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Out-of-Body Treatment For Liver Cancer

Posted by timothy on from the just-like-pop-tops dept.

Tangential writes "This is amazing. Liver cancer, dangerous to treat and often deadly. Dosing that part of your body with enough radiation to cure the cancer often does as much harm as good. If they could just remove your liver, send it down to the lab to be treated and put it back in. An Italian MD has done just that." There's a story at New Scientist as well.

2 of 36 comments (clear)

  1. Fine for the liver, but.. by insensitive_clod · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This technique may work fine for the liver and a few other organs that are less vital (digestive organs for example). The article said the man was without his liver for only 11 minutes.. Surely this is the time that it was completely out of his body, and the time it was "disconnected" was much longer. Other organs, like the lungs and especially the brain, can't be so readily removed.

  2. this sounds interesting by BigBir3d · · Score: 5, Insightful

    My father died of a cancer that sounds similar to what this guy had. Small tumors that spread over everything. Starts in the lung or liver, usually, and then spreads throughout all organs, eventually into the lymph system. Once in the lymph system, you are done.

    The beauty of this treatment is, it seems like such a simple idea. Why not take out the effected organ, if you can safely?

    What a difference six and a half years make...