Surgery – Radioactive substance applied to body for therapy
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-19
2001-06-19
Winakur, Eric F. (Department: 3736)
Surgery
Radioactive substance applied to body for therapy
Reexamination Certificate
active
06248056
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for generating pulses of electric fields in a resricted area of a human or an animal, according to the preambles to the independent claims.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
The forms of therapy which are routinely applied in modern medicine for tumoral therapy often fail to achieve local tumor control, which is the cause of death of roughly 30% of cancer patients. It is, therefore, important to develop novel and improved techniques for local and regional tumor treatment.
In today's medical care, radiation therapy, also known as radiation treatment, surgery and combinations hereof are the most commonly employed methods for treating malignant tumors. Roughly every second patient suffering from infiltrating cancer is treated by radiation therapy, but only roughly half of these patients are cured. Such failure depends, on the one hand, on the presence of a wider spread disease (distant metastasis) or recurrence (a regrowth of a tumor in the treatment region), and, on the other hand, because certain tumor forms are resistant to radiation.
Attempts have been made, with varying success, to reinforce and improve the efficiency of radiation therapy in sterilizing tumors. For example, use has been made of more sophisticated radiation therapy techniques, such as stereotactic treatment, “conformal radiotherapy” of changed fractioning or added medication to increase the radiation sensitivity in the tumors.
Use is also made of heat as adjuvant to ionizing radiation which, for certain tumor forms, may increase the number of complete remissions by up to a factor of two.
It is obvious that there are both desires and needs in the art for a more efficient technique for treating tumors.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The characterizing clauses of the independent claims disclose a technique which entails a substantial improvement of the efficiency of the radiation therapy in sterilizing tumors.
The present invention relates to an apparatus which includes means for subjecting a tumor in a human or in an animal to one or more pulses of an electric field with a field strength adjustable for the pertinent treatment field, and means for ionizing radiation treatment of the tumor.
The present invention also relates to a method of treating tumors by a combination of ionizing irradiation and of pulses of electric fields which, in the tumor, have a field strength exceeding a predetermined level.
Expedient embodiments of the present invention are further disclosed in the appended subclaims.
In the application of the present invention, it has proved that the survival of tumor cells has been reduced substantially if they are first treated with ionizing radiation and thereafter exposed to pulses of electric fields with an electric field strength exceeding a certain level. This survival has fallen by a factor of 10 compared with survival in exclusively ionizing radiation. The tumors in rats have completely disappeared when they were treated with a combination of ionizing radiation and electric fields with a field strength exceeding a certain level.
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Translation of Abstract DE 40 07 562.*
Translation of Abstract CH 666 199.
Ladas and Parry
Szmal Brian
Winakur Eric F.
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