A group of enterprising University physicists is hoping its research will one day lead to doctors using microwaves to zap tumours into oblivion.
Not much research has gone into their effect on tumours
Led by physics department head Charles Sammut, the researchers are trying to better understand how different parts of the body react to electromagnetic waves.
Their findings could give oncologists the option of diagnosing certain cancers using microwaves instead of MRIs and X-rays.
And the research team is confident the technique could also be used to destroy tumours directly.
“Different tissue has different properties and there’s still a lot we don’t know about the effects a change in frequency, range or temperature has on various tissues,” Prof. Sammut explained.
“But the idea is pretty simple: instead of putting meat in a microwave, we’re putting the microwave inside the meat.
“And as we heat up the tissue, its properties begin to change.”
Understanding precisely how those properties change is vital because doctors will need to ensure they administer the right electromagnetic doses throughout the process.
One of Prof. Sammut’s research assistants, PhD candidate Lourdes Abdilla, has been charged with spearheading data collection efforts.
“At the moment, I’m getting healthy bovine tissue from the Marsa slaughterhouse and cancerous tissue from animal hospitals,” she explained.
Although international research teams have explored the effects of microwaves on healthy tissue, not much research has gone into their effect on tumours.
“There was an international study compiled in 1996 but technology has moved along so much since then that it’s not that helpful. The lack of data means we need to start from scratch and then extrapolate based on what we find,” Ms Abdilla said.
Prof. Sammut was quick to reassure that microwaving tissue had no adverse affects on humans or animals.
Clinical trials on destroying tumours using microwave applicators are currently under way in the UK, led by a scientist who studied under Prof. Sammut’s supervision.
But a dearth in data means that, in such trials, electromagnetic doses are often down to clinicians’ subjective opinions rather than hard fact.
Prof. Sammut’s eyes glistened: “We need to have solid data to base such techniques on and ensure standardisation.
“With greater knowledge, we could create computerised three-dimensional models of a patient’s body that would tell us exactly how to electromagnetically treat a tumour in, say, their liver.”
Prof. Sammut, Ms Abdilla and their team of eager student-scientists – Stephen Vella, Julian Bonello, Sam Agius, Jessica Falzon, Ruth Grech Marguerat and Giuseppe Gauci – hope to have gathered all the necessary data on animal tumours within a year’s time.
That data would inform the team’s subsequent steps, Ms Abdilla said.
“If the data shows there aren’t many differences between animal species, then it’s likely that’ll be true of human tissue too.
“We’ll then be able to turn that data into a computerised model used to run simulations. But first, we have to concentrate on recording as many results as we can.”