Scientists have unveiled a revolutionary light therapy technique that may eradicate cancer cells in as little as 30 minutes.

This innovative approach was developed by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin. It involves directing infrared light, which is not visible to the naked eye, from LED bulbs onto test tubes containing human skin and colon cancer cells, alongside healthy human skin cells.

Within these tubes were nanoscopic flakes of tin oxide, known as SnOx nanoflakes, which were absorbed by the cancerous cells.

Upon exposure to the infrared light, these tiny flakes absorbed the light and heated up, essentially becoming ‘microscopic heaters’ that inflicted damage on the cancer cells, leading to their destruction, while largely sparing the healthy cells.

After a mere half-hour of treatment, up to 92% of skin cancer cells and 50% of colon cancer cells were eliminated, with minimal impact on the healthy cells.

Although this research is in its infancy and practical application remains years away, the study offers promising prospects for a future cancer treatment that targets malignant cells without harming healthy tissue.

Current cancer treatments include surgery, chemotherapy or radiation.

However, these methods also harm healthy cells by directly removing them or by damaging their DNA and interfering with cell division. Chemotherapy and radiation have a range of potentially debilitating side effects, including hair loss, fatigue, nausea, a weakened immune system and pain. 

Scientists say they are developing the new method, which is still in the earliest stages (stock photo)

Dr Jean Anne Incorvia, a nanodevice researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, who led the study, said: ‘Our goal was to create a treatment that is not only effective but also safe and accessible.

‘With the combination of LED light and SnOx nanoflakes, we’ve developed a method to precisely target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells untouched.’

It is the latest development in photothermal therapy, a technique that uses light to kill cancer cells. 

This technique normally uses specialized lasers and is expensive, only carried out in specialist facilities, but the team behind the new method says that, because it uses LED lights, it is cheaper and could become more widely available.

The method was only tested on skin and colon cancer cells, but it is likely that it could be tested for treating a range of other cancers. 

More than 5million people are diagnosed with skin cancer in the US every year and about 9,000 die from the condition. The cancer is often caught in the early stages and easily treated. 

Only about four percent of patients are diagnosed at stage four, where the cancer is much harder to treat.

For colon cancer, about 152,000 people are diagnosed with the disease every year and 50,000 die from the cancer. Unlike skin cancer, the disease often does not cause any symptoms until the later stages, when it has spread in the body and becomes harder to treat. 

Estimates suggest that about 20 to 23 percent of cases are diagnosed at stage four.

Both cancers are on the rise, with the rate of melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer, rising from 15.1 cases per 100,000 people in the US in 1999 to 23 per 100,000 in 2021, according to estimates.

The above is an image issued by the university that demonstrates how the treatment works

For colon cancer, there is a sharp rise occurring among young adults, with the number of cases diagnosed among 20- to 39-year-olds rising by about two percent every year since the mid-1990s.

The latest research, published in the journal ACS Nano, found that the temperature of the nanoparticles rose 66 degrees Fahrenheit (19 degrees Celsius) after 30 minutes of being exposed to the light.

Heating nanoparticles inside a cancer cell causes cell death because the heat disrupts and damages the cell’s internal structure.  

The higher temperatures can also cause proteins in the cell to denature, or stop working properly, and disrupt its membrane.

It may also be possible that the cell death could trigger an immune response, prompting the immune system to attack the cancer cells.

Scientists hope that the therapy could offer a safer alternative to traditional photothermal therapy (PTT) and chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Chemotherapy is infused directly into the veins and travels around the whole body, potentially damaging healthy cells.

Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays to damage and kill cancer cells by firing the radiation directly at the cells in a tumor.

But, by firing the rays into the body, it can also cause damage to healthy cells, with the radiation potentially disrupting their DNA.

Dr Artur Pinto, a researcher at Porto University in Portugal who was also involved in the research, added: ‘Our ultimate goal is to make this technology available to patients everywhere, especially in places where access to specialized equipment is limited, with fewer side effects and lower cost.

‘For skin cancer patients in particular, we envision that one day, treatment could move from the hospital to the patient’s home.

‘A portable device could be placed on the skin after surgery to irradiate and destroy any remaining cancer cells, reducing the risk of recurrence.’

The FDA has not approved photothermal therapy in the US as a standalone treatment for cancer to date, although a number of treatments are being investigated.

The agency has approved this treatment, however, for helping to treat certain skin conditions.