New therapy treatment for cancer being tested at Penn Medicine: "The data's been really promising"
Radiation in a FLASH is now being tested at Penn Medicine, and it could change the future of cancer treatment.
About half of cancer patients get some form of radiation, but it can be a long and difficult treatment.
Penn oncologist Dr. Alexander Lin, the principal investigator, said proton beam therapy is one of the most advanced and precise forms of radiation.
"Each beam of radiation that we are using is customized specifically to that patient on the table," Lin said.
Now, the Penn team will be testing the effectiveness of a quicker course of Proton therapy called FLASH for patients who have recurrent head and neck cancers.
Doctors said the treatment targets and destroys the tumor with less damage to healthy tissue.
"With FLASH, we can actually reduce the time of treatment to, believe it or not, less than a second," Lin said.
Using customized devices, FLASH proton therapy delivers an ultra-high dose of radiation, reducing treatment times from months to days.
"It's going to be more convenient, as effective towards cancer, and with less side effects," Lin said.
Former patient Patrick Sullivan said the therapy is "game-changing."
Sullivan, who lives in Malvern, had traditional proton therapy for throat cancer six weeks ago that left him exhausted, but it saved his life. He's excited about the research that could make it quicker and easier.
"It's really is going to give patients the opportunity to return back to their lives with very little interruption," Sullivan said.
The proton therapy was first tested on dogs, like Maple, who CBS News Philadelphia told you about in 2023.
Now, the phase one clinical trial is moving to people.
"The data's been really promising," Lin said.
If the research continues to be positive, the Penn team could one day be zapping cancer in a flash.
Penn is looking to enroll 10 people for this first phase of the research. Doctors hope FLASH radiation could eventually be used on a variety of cancers.