Neurosurgeons using lasers to treat brain cancer have discovered the
technique breaks down the blood-brain barrier, a finding that could
potentially lead to new treatment options for patients diagnosed with
the deadly disease, Brain Cancer.
The blood-brain barrier is a sort of natural “security system” that
filters out drugs and other substances in blood so they can’t reach the
brain.
“We were able to show that this blood-brain barrier is broken down
for about 4 weeks after you do this laser therapy,” said Dr. Eric
Leuthardt, a professor of neurosurgery at Washington University in St.
Louis.
“So not only are you killing the tumor, you are actually opening up a
window of opportunity to deliver various drugs and chemicals and
therapies that could otherwise not get there,” he added.
Currently the research is in a second round clinical trial. The
blood-brain barrier shields the brain from harmful toxins but also
blocks potentially helpful drugs, such as chemotherapy.
The laser technology, which was approved by the Food and Drug
Administration in 2009 as a surgical tool that can be used to treat
brain tumors, involves a small laser tipped probe that heats up and
kills tumors from the inside out.
As part of the trial, following the laser therapy, patients are dosed
with Doxorubicin, a powerful chemotherapy drug known as one of the
least likely to get through the blood-brain barrier.
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