Researchers are working on a new form of cancer treatment that will most likely become available within 5 years. The treatment works on healthy cells by modifying the function of gene to make the cells immune from huge dose of radiation for treating cancer. Using this technique the researchers have succeeded in killing the cancer cells by using very large dose of radiation, while protecting the normal healthy cells.

Radiotherapy is one of the commonly used modality for treatment of cancer and it is estimated that approximately 50% of cancer patients receive radiotherapy which reduce the tumor size and also reduce distance metastasis. But radiotherapy also destroy the normal healthy cells, cause side effects like severe vomiting, fatigue and weakness and also makes the recipient more prone to develop cancer in the future. Radiation can also weaken our immune system.

Scientists now believe that they have found the solution to above mentioned adverse effects of radiotherapy and radiation. Researchers have found that by blocking the function of a protein (TSP1/CD47), it is possible to make the healthy cells immune to very large dose of radiation in mice and pigs, and they believe that the same will work on humans also. Blocking the function protein TSP1/CD47 might suppress the defense mechanism of cancer cells but not of normal healthy cells.

In a study the researchers pre-treated the hind leg of pigs with the agent that blocks the protein TSP1/CD47, which showed that there were very less hair loss, peeling and ulceration in compare to the hind legs of pigs that were not pretreated with the agent that blocks the protein TSP1/CD47. The researchers were surprised by the result they got from the study, which could pave a new way of treating cancer in the future. The study (by using protein TSP1/CD47) was conducted using normal healthy cells of mice, cows, pigs and rats and living animals like pigs, mice and rats. Doctors now (oncologists and radiotherapists) need not to worry much in applying very large doses of radiation for treatment of cancer.

How the agents acts by blocking the protein TSP1/CD47 is not yet clear to the researchers, but they are working on various options to prevent killing the normal healthy cells whiling destroying the cancer cells. Before the new treatment modality can become available more clinical trials and toxicological studies are required.