Science Current Events | Science News | Brightsurf.com
 
Email a Friend Send to a friend
Printer Friendly Print Blue light used to harden tooth fillings stunts tumor growth

Blue light used to harden tooth fillings stunts tumor growth

June 25, 2008

A blue curing light used to harden dental fillings also may stunt tumor growth, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.

"The light sends wavelengths of blue-violet light to the composite, which triggers hardening," says Alpesh Patel, a rising MCG School of Dentistry junior. "The light waves produce free radicals that activate the catalyst and speed up polymerization of the composite resin. In oral cancer cells, though, those radicals cause damage that decreases cell growth and increases cell death."




Mr. Patel, who has been working with Dr. Jill Lewis, associate professor of oral biology, Dr. Regina Messer, associate professor of oral rehabilitation and oral biology, and Dr. John Wataha, adjunct professor of oral rehabilitation and oral biology, studied 10 tumor-bearing mice, five treated with the light and five untreated.

He exposed half the mice to the blue light for 90 seconds a day for 12 days. Then the tumors were extracted and each one was split into two sections. Half were used to create slides for tissue analysis, and half were frozen to prepare protein extracts.

Tissue analysis indicated an approximate 10 percent increase in cell suicide, or apoptosis, in the light-treated tumors. The frozen protein extracts revealed a nearly 80 percent decrease in cell growth in the light-treated tumors.

"The decrease in cell growth, combined with increased apoptosis, helps explain why the tumors didn't grow as much because you have cells that aren't dividing and you have cells that are committing suicide," Mr. Patel says.

Dr. Lewis predicts treating the tumors with blue light sooner will increase the rate of apoptosis, possibly preventing the tumor from ever becoming measurable and easing treatment.

"One desirable feature we've observed with the blue light is that non-cancerous cells appear unaffected at light doses that kill tumor cells," says Dr. Lewis. "We're thinking that some day, blue light therapy may serve as an adjunct to conventional cancer therapy. Patients may, therefore, receive lower doses of chemotherapy, which would decrease the adverse effects most cancer patients experience from standard chemotherapy regimens."

Medical College of Georgia



Related Tumor Growth Current Events and Tumor Growth News Articles Tumor Growth Current Events and Tumor Growth News RSS Tumor Growth Current Events and Tumor Growth News RSS
New hope for cancer comes straight from the heart
Digitalis-based drugs like digoxin have been used for centuries to treat patients with irregular heart rhythms and heart failure and are still in use today. In the Dec. 16 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine now report that this same class of drugs may hold new promise as a treatment for cancer.

Cell Biologists Identify New Tumor Suppressor for Lung Cancer
Cancer and cell biology experts at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have identified a new tumor suppressor that may help scientists develop more targeted drug therapies to combat lung cancer.

Dormant cancer cells rely on cellular self-cannibalization to survive
A single tumor-suppressing gene is a key to understanding, and perhaps killing, dormant ovarian cancer cells that persist after initial treatment only to reawaken years later, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the December Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Newly found enzymes may play early role in cancer
Researchers have discovered two enzymes that, when combined, could be involved in the earliest stages of cancer. Manipulating these enzymes genetically might lead to targeted therapies aimed at slowing or preventing the onset of tumors.

New study shows that a cough medicine ingredient could effectively treat prostate cancer
A study published today in the December issue of the European medical journal Anticancer Research demonstrates that an ingredient used in a common cough suppressant may be useful in treating advanced prostate cancer.

Cellular 'brakes' may slow memory process in aging brains
University of Florida researchers may have discovered why some brain cells necessary for healthy memory can survive old age or disease, while similar cells hardly a hairsbreadth away die.

M. D. Anderson to hold first international conference on inflammatory breast cancer
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center will hold the first international inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) conference on December 6-7, to bring together internationally recognized breast cancer clinicians and scientists.

Combining targeted therapy drugs may treat previously resistant tumors
A team of cancer researchers from several Boston academic medical centers has discovered a potential treatment for a group of tumors that have resisted previous targeted therapy approaches.

Study unmasks how ovarian tumors evade immune system
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have determined how the characteristic shedding of fatty substances, or lipids, by ovarian tumors allows the cancer to evade the body's immune system, leaving the disease to spread unchecked

Studies show novel device may enhance chemotherapy treatment in brain tumors
NovoCure Ltd. presented results yesterday evaluating the Novo-TTF device in vitro and in a pilot clinical trial that showed the device enhanced the efficacy of standard chemotherapy (temozolomide) treatment in newly-diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients.
More Tumor Growth Current Events and Tumor Growth News Articles


Cancer Immunotherapy: Immune Suppression and Tumor Growth
by George C. Prendergast

There has been major growth in understanding immune suppression mechanisms and its relationship to cancer progression and therapy. This book highlights emerging new principles of immune suppression that drive cancer and it offers radically new ideas about how therapy can be improved by attacking these principles. Following work that firmly establishes immune escape as an essential trait of...

Bionomic's gene silencing molecules inhibitor tumor growth in breast cancer model.: An article from: BIOTECH Patent News

This digital document is an article from BIOTECH Patent News, published by Biotech Patent News on November 1, 2004. The length of the article is 418 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTitle:...

History of HRT use benefits breast cancer patients. (Tumor Growth Reduced in Bone).(hormone replacement therapy): An article from: Family Practice News
by Bruce Jancin

This digital document is an article from Family Practice News, published by International Medical News Group on March 1, 2003. The length of the article is 608 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation...

Doubling time: toward understanding an abstruse concept.(tumor growth; litigation concerning misdiagnosis): An article from: Defense Counsel Journal
by James J. Stark

This digital document is an article from Defense Counsel Journal, published by International Association of Defense Counsels on April 1, 1998. The length of the article is 3487 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web...



Growth Factors and Tumor Promotion: Implications for Risk Assessment
by Tex.) International Conference on Carcinogenesis and Risk Assessment (7th : 1993 : Austin

This study analyzes and compares available data on the role of growth factors and tumour promoters in tumour development in both experimental animal models and humans. Emphasis is placed on the biological, cellular and molecular changes that occur under the influence of growth factors and tumour promoters during tumour development. The contributors identify the possible importance of these...

Peregrine's phospholipid-targeted antibodies fused wth cytokines reduce tumor growth.: An article from: BIOTECH Patent News
by Gale Reference Team

This digital document is an article from BIOTECH Patent News, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2006. The length of the article is 654 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTitle:...

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories may slow breast tumor growth. (Large, Case-Control Study).: An article from: Internal Medicine News
by Michele G. Sullivan

This digital document is an article from Internal Medicine News, published by International Medical News Group on January 15, 2003. The length of the article is 1357 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web...

Mechanism of tumor growth in crowngall
by Erwin F Smith

The Genesis and Growth of Tumors III. Effects of a High-Fat Diet
by Albert, M.D. TANNENBAUM

New weapons against brain tumors: emerging techniques from multi-national research curb the growth of brain tumors.(CANCER): An article from: Health News
by Gale Reference Team

This digital document is an article from Health News, published by Thomson Gale on October 1, 2007. The length of the article is 782 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTitle: New weapons...

© 2009 BrightSurf.com