Experimental skin patch holds promise of skin cancer therapy

 By Admin

Researchers have developed a heat-activated skin patch that could offer a new, noninvasive way to treat melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer.

The experimental treatment, described in the journal ACS Nano, uses a soft, stretchable patch that works much like a bandage. Once gently heated with a low-power laser, the patch releases copper ions designed to destroy melanoma cells beneath the skin while leaving surrounding healthy tissue largely unharmed.

Melanoma is usually treated through surgery because the cancer forms in the outer and middle layers of the skin. However, removing tumours without affecting nearby tissue can be difficult, especially when the cancer has started spreading.

A team of researchers led by Xin Li, Shi Chen, Meijia Gu and Ruquan Ye explored whether advances in nanotechnology could provide a safer and more targeted treatment option.

The scientists built the patch using laser-induced graphene, a porous carbon material created through laser etching. The tiny pores were filled with copper(II) oxide and then embedded into a flexible silicone polymer, producing a patch that is breathable, soft and chemically inactive until activated by heat.

According to the researchers, warming the patch to about 42 degrees Celsius, or 108 degrees Fahrenheit, causes it to release copper ions. These ions interact with the DNA of cancer cells and trigger oxidative stress, effectively killing the cells. 

The process is also believed to stimulate an immune response that could help prevent metastasis, the spread of cancer to other parts of the body.

Laboratory tests on cultured melanoma cells produced encouraging results. After the patch was activated with a low-power laser, most of the melanoma cells beneath it were destroyed, while the movement of surviving cancer cells slowed significantly.

The researchers then carried out a preliminary 10-day study using mice with melanoma. Patches were applied to the animals and activated with a laser on the first and fifth days of treatment.

By the end of the study, melanoma lesions had been reduced by 97 percent. Tissue analysis also showed that the cancer cells had not spread beyond the tumour area. Importantly, the researchers found no evidence that copper ions had accumulated in the animals’ blood or major organs, easing concerns about possible toxicity.

The research team said the findings suggest the technology could eventually become a safe, targeted and reusable treatment option for melanoma patients.

Although the results are still at an early stage and human trials have not yet begun, the researchers believe the patch could represent a significant step toward less invasive skin cancer therapies in the future.