Chinese researchers reveal mechanism of cancer therapy with heavy ions

Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and their foreign colleagues have made an important discovery that will help optimise treatment strategies for cancer. Experts have found out how heavy ions affect cancer cells and why this method is more effective than traditional radiotherapy. This is reported by Xinhua News Agency, a partner of TV BRICS, with reference to the study.

Heavy ion therapy is an advanced method of radiotherapy in which charged particles are accelerated to high speed and directed precisely at the tumour. It is specified that since the advent of this method of cancer treatment, it has been used for more than 50,000 patients worldwide.

"Under the same radiation dose, heavy ions exhibit two to three times greater cancer-cell-killing efficiency than traditional X-ray radiotherapy," said Xu Shenyue, a researcher of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

According to him, heavy ions damage DNA in tumour cells more effectively, but the specific microscopic mechanism of these effects has long remained unclear. In the experiment, the scientists saw for the first time the mechanism of cascading energy and proton transfer triggered by heavy ions in biomolecular clusters.

It is noted that among the scientists were also researchers from Irkutsk State University.

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