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Remotely Heated Seeds to Treat Brain Tumors

A tumor seen on an MRI scan. (Getty/iStock)
A tumor seen on an MRI scan. (Getty/iStock)
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Remotely Heated Seeds to Treat Brain Tumors

A tumor seen on an MRI scan. (Getty/iStock)
A tumor seen on an MRI scan. (Getty/iStock)

A tiny magnetic seed could hold the key to treating tumors in some of the most inaccessible parts of the body. According to Sky News, minimally invasive image-guided ablation, or "Minima", is a new therapy which sees the 2mm seed guided through the brain to heat and destroy tumors.

Tested on mice, it involves using an MRI scanner to navigate the seed's path to the tumor, before heating it remotely and using this heat to kill off the cancer cells. The technique could mean more effective treatment, reduced recovery times, and less chance of side effects.

It could be used against hard-to-reach glioblastoma - the most common form of brain cancer - as well as prostate cancer and other tumors that would benefit from less invasive treatment. The findings are detailed in a study published in the journal Advanced Science. Senior author, Professor Mark Lythgoe from the UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, told the PA news agency: "By having precise remote control of the seed using the MRI scanner, we can destroy only the cancer cells. This means that we will be able to preserve the healthy tissue.”

"In terms of neurosurgery this means that we will be able to preserve motor function and cognitive function which not only contribute to the quality of life and recovery time but can contribute to the long-term survival of the patient," he added.

Co-author Dr. Lewis Thorne is a consultant neurosurgeon at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery who treats patients with glioblastoma.

"Minima can successfully destroy cancer in a mouse and has the potential to extend survival and limit damage to adjacent brain tissues in patients," Lythgoe added.
Professor Mark Emberton, UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Science - lead cancer clinician in the study, said: "Improving the precision of our cancer treatments is arguably one of the greatest unmet needs we have today. "

One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer.

"While treatments such as radiotherapy and surgery can be effective, they often cause unwanted and debilitating side effects such as incontinence and impotence. Minima may allow us to precisely target and destroy prostate tumor tissue, reducing harm to normal cells,” Emberton concluded.

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White Truffles, Italy's Gold, Menaced by Climate Change

A truffle farmer sells his production during the truffle market in Sorges, southwestern France. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau.
A truffle farmer sells his production during the truffle market in Sorges, southwestern France. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau.
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White Truffles, Italy's Gold, Menaced by Climate Change

A truffle farmer sells his production during the truffle market in Sorges, southwestern France. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau.
A truffle farmer sells his production during the truffle market in Sorges, southwestern France. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau.

Deep in a thick forest in Italy's northwestern Piedmont region, the hunt is on for the white Alba truffle, with excited dogs zigzagging and digging into the wet earth.
But the culinary treasure is becoming increasingly rare, undermined by climate change.
"Go find it! Where is it?" Carlo Marenda, a part-time truffle hunter, calls out to Gigi and Buk, seven month- and 13-year-old crosses between the Spinone Italiano and Lagotto Romagnolo breeds, prized for their keen sense of smell, AFP reported.
Autumn leaves crunch under the weight of boots sinking into muddy soil. Below a picturesque hillside vineyard not far from Alba, trails wind along the Rio della Fava, crossing damp ground ideal for growing truffles.
Sought after by gourmets and starred chefs around the globe, the white truffle of Alba, the most prestigious in the world, is an underground fungus growing in symbiosis with certain hardwood trees by attaching itself to their roots.
Its intense and refined scent, a mixture of hay, garlic and honey, allows hunting dogs to detect it, even if the truffle is sometimes buried up to a meter deep.
Introduced to truffle hunting at the age of five by a family friend, Carlo Marenda, 42, founded the "Save the Truffle" association in 2015, alongside Edmondo Bonelli, a researcher in natural sciences.
It was an octogenarian "trifulau" loner, Giuseppe Giamesio, known as "Notu" and the last descendant of a family with a century-old truffle tradition, who revealed his secrets to him and bequeathed his dogs just before his death in 2014.
The master's message was a testament: "If we want to prevent the disappearance of the truffle, we must protect the forests, stop polluting the waterways and plant new 'truffle' trees".
Ten years later, thanks to donations and the support of some winegrowers, the association has planted more than 700 such trees in the hilly Langhe area, including poplars, oaks and lindens.
Notu's legacy
"Notu passed on to me his passion for truffle hunting and tree preservation," said Marenda, emerging from his metallic grey Fiat Panda 4X4, the preferred car of truffle hunters.
In the last three decades, the areas dedicated to white truffles in Italy have dropped by 30 percent, gradually giving way to more profitable vineyards, but also hazelnut groves.
The Langhe hills provide a large quantity of hazelnuts to the chocolate giant Ferrero, which was founded in 1946 in Alba, a small prosperous town of 30,000 inhabitants.
But the main threat to the white truffle, whose harvest was classified as an intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO in 2021, is climate change.
Global warming, drought, deforestation and sudden temperature changes are all factors weakening the natural habitat of this fungus.
To survive, the truffle needs cold and humidity. At the beginning of November, however, the temperature was at 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit).
"With the prolongation of summer weather, production is definitely falling", he lamented.
Soaring prices
The harvest, running from October to the end of January, is getting shorter. And with the delayed cold and snow to arrive, "the aroma of the truffles is not yet 100 percent and they don't keep as long", Marenda said.
Abundant rain, as seen in recent weeks, can also be harmful, he said.
"If there is too little water, the truffle does not grow. If there is too much, it rots."
Alerted by Buk, Marenda crouched down to the ground to delicately scratch the earth with a narrow spade, extracting a truffle, albeit rather modest in size.
On whether the white truffle is on the brink of extinction, experts say it isn't too late.

"Not yet. But if we don't act, it could become so," said Mario Aprile, president of the Piedmont truffle hunters' association.
"The white truffle cannot be cultivated, unlike the black one. Without trees, there are no truffles. We plant them to rebuild biodiversity," Aprile said.
Faced with limited supply and booming demand, the white truffle is trading at a high price, reaching 4,500 euros per kilo this year at the International Alba White Truffle Fair which ends December 8.
Two "twin" white truffles, bound to the same root and dug up by Aprile, were the stars of the annual world charity auction for white truffles in Alba Sunday.
Weighing a total of 905 grams (2 lbs), the fungi were sold for 140,000 euros ($150,000) to a Hong Kong finance tycoon.