Cancer Center

Medical Researchers Apply NASA Space Technology to Cancer Treatment

February 2008 Cancer Center News

Harry T. Whelan, MD

When it comes to finding new solutions for cancer treatment, resourceful researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin are collaborating with scientific communities outside the world of medicine. One Medical College researcher in particular, Harry T. Whelan, MD, Professor of Neurology, and Director of Hyperbaric Medicine (Pediatric Neurology), is borrowing technology developed for NASA and incorporating it into cancer treatments and therapies.

The NASA technology being used by Dr. Whelan and his collaborators involves light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which emit a broad spectrum of light that can be used as an energy source for photosynthesis in plants. Quantum Devices in Barneveld, Wis., originally developed the technology so that NASA could grow plants in space. Using similar LEDs, Dr. Whelan and his collaborators are conducting promising clinical trials for brain cancer treatment as well as for relief of oral mucositis, a painful and dangerous side effect of chemotherapy experienced by many leukemia patients.

In the brain cancer trials, LEDs are being tested as an improved alternative for the light source used in a popular cancer treatment called photodynamic therapy (PDT). By injecting a photosensitizing agent into the blood stream and exposing the drug-saturated cells to light, PDT kills cancer cells, damages blood vessels in the tumor and may activate the immune system to attack the tumor cells. Each photosensitizing drug is activated by light of a specific wavelength. The most common photosensitizer used for brain tumors are hematoporphyrin derivative (HDP) and Photofrin® porfirmer sodium. Both are activated by laser technology.

In addition to the high cost of the technology, a disadvantage of laser light is its shorter wavelengths, which cannot pass through more than about one-third of an inch of tissue. When used with the shorter light wavelengths, PDT is usually limited to treating tumors on or just under the skin or on the lining of internal organs, such as esophageal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

On the other hand, the broad spectrum of light emitted by LEDs gives them the potential to activate photosensitizing drugs deeper in brain tissue. Investigators in Dr. Whelan’s brain cancer trial hope to expand the potential cancer-killing powers of PDT by using LED as the light source.

“The LEDs needed to grow plants in space produced the same wavelengths of light the doctor needed to remove brain tumors,” said Ronald Ignatius, owner of Quantum Devices. “Plus, when we developed the LEDs for NASA they had to be lightweight to fly aboard the shuttle and have small cooling systems. These traits make the LED surgery probes easier to use in the operating room and thousands of dollars cheaper than laser systems.”

The Light Emitting Diodes probe is being prepared for use in brain surgery at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. The LED probe consists of 144 tiny pinhead-size diodes and is 9-inches long and about one-half-inch in diameter. The small balloon aids in even distribution of the light source. The LED probe can be used for hours at a time and remains cool to the touch.

The oral mucositis trials use LED technology to prevent this side effect in leukemia patients who are undergoing chemotherapy. Oral mucositis consists of painful mouth ulcers that often keep patients from eating and drinking. The problems caused by poor nutrition are compounded by an already compromised immune system creating less than desirable conditions for the patient’s mouth to heal.

Biologists have found they can speed up the healing process by exposing the cells in the mouth to near-infrared light from LEDs. The light arrays increase energy inside cells causing them to grow and replace the wounded tissue 150 to 200 percent faster than those not stimulated by such light.

In the first stage of the study, use of the LEDs resulted in significant relief to pediatric bone marrow transplant patients suffering from oral mucositis. Each patient in the trial received one minute of LED therapy starting the day of the bone marrow transplant and a one-minute treatment each day thereafter for a two-week period.

“These trials will hopefully help us take the next steps to provide this as a standard of care for this ailment,” said Dr. Whelan.

Dr. Whelan is expanding his studies of the use of LED technology in wound healing to include other types of patients such as burns victims and those with musculoskeletal injuries.

Dr. Whelan has also begun a trial with Dennis Han, MD, Jack A. & Elaine D. Klieger Professor in Ophthalmology, and other ophthalmologists of The Medical College of Wisconsin Eye Institute, treating diabetic retinopathy (the leading cause of blindness in the United States) with LED. Patients interested should contact the Eye Institute at 414-456-2020.