New Cancer Therapies Promote Longer Yet Expensive Lives: MR-HIFU Technology Potential Is Explored For Cancer Patients

Over the past five years, there have been 68 new approved cancer treatments. Recently, the potential of MR-HIFU technology was introduced to extend lives, but in more expensive ways.

According to Business Insider, since 2012, there have been 68 new cancer treatments which were approved for the sake of cancer patients. However, the only counterpart is the higher costs of medication and treatment for the condition.

On the record, just last year, the global spending on people for the treatment of cancer reached $113 billion, which is about $6 billion higher compared in 2015. Furthermore, on the expectation of the QuintilesIMS Institute, the cost would reach $147 billion by the year 2021.

Executive Director of Quintiles IMS Institute, Murray Aitken said that "These are remarkable times. It is because there has been an explosion of innovation in cancer therapies, and it's likely going to be a while before that cools down." There has been a total of 20% global spending in cancer drugs last year, compared to the 10% total spending five years ago.

Meanwhile, Medical Express reported a potential cancer therapy has been sought by the researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology, Philips Research and University Hospital of Cologne. The researchers have seen a potential therapy from a combination of MRI Imaging, ultrasound (HIFU), and drug-loaded temperature-sensitive nanoparticles.

The combination of the three is studied to be used in improving cancer treatment efficacy as published in one of the world's prestigious scientific journals, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science or PNAS. The procedure is named as MR-HIFU or the image-guided administration of medication through the use of temperature-sensitive liposomes. The liposomes will transmit the medication through the body where the tumor is located and will be monitored by the use of imaging after the drug has been released.

One of the authors, Dr. Edwin Heijiman, a Senior Research Scientist at the Department of Oncology Solutions at Philip Research said, "The MR-HIFU technology has a unique potential that will enable hyperthermia to locally release the drugs and thermal ablation in just a single procedure. In the coming years, the technology is planned to be developed further for the purpose of applying it to cancer patients.