Science / Medicine : Neutrons Aid Cancer Fight
Bombarding tumors with high-energy neutrons instead of X-rays doubles the percentage of men who survive certain inoperable prostate cancers and could save the lives of one-fourth of those now killed by the disease, scientists said last week.
Prostate cancer is the third leading cause of cancer deaths in U.S. men after lung and colorectal cancer. About 103,000 U.S. men will develop the disease this year, and 28,500 who have it will die, according to the American Cancer Society.
Dr. George Laramore of the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle said the study he led indicates that one-quarter of those who die each year could be saved by nationwide adoption of neutron radiation as the treatment for such men.
Neutrons are electrically neutral particles in the nucleus, or center, of an atom. They are massive particles, while X-rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation, as is light. Beams of neutrons attack cancer cells with about 100 times the energy of X-rays, Laramore said.
The study was conducted at the university and other institutions. It involved 91 men whose cancer spread beyond the prostate. Five years after treatment, 70% of those who received neutron radiation remain alive, twice the 35% survival rate among those treated with X-rays.
