Senator Medical AB – Senator Medical AB

New Cancer Treatment possibilities

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 14:10:58 +0000

Gene editing revolution – what is it? CRISPR simply explained!

CRISPR (pronounced crisper) is a strong gene-editing technique & what I can imagine as a CURE for CANCER.

That enables precise cut, renewal and repair on selected location of the DNA.

Compared to previous therapies, the CRISPR is like trading in a pair of rusty scissors for a robot-operating laser cutter, all use in gene-editing.

Caution: Yes, CRISPR could be the answer to many of our healthcare challenges nevertheless its a controversial issue, in both regulation & ethical aspects.

References: LinkedIn, Nature Video, Oncology publications

#cancer #electrochemotherapy #electroporation #biotech #targetedtherapy #genetherapy #genetherapies

Do you think we can re-invent ourselves during the crisis?!

admin — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 08:23:45 +0000

Even during a pandemic, you don’t have to put your career transitions on hold.

Here are some suggestions:

Imagine a range of possibilities for yourself.
Embrace the feeling of being “in-between”.
Invest time in side projects.
Connect with those you haven’t spoken to for three years or more.
Talk to others who are going through similar transitions.

Reference: LinkedIn, Senator Medical AB LinkedIn post

Important points about: Cloth Face Masks

admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 05:23:41 +0000

As you may be hearing in the news, experts may soon be recommending that all of us wear masks in public. There’s a growing body of evidence suggesting that it could be a wise move. Researchers from Yale compared data from countries where mask usage is common against countries where it is not and found that the death rate from COVID-19 is up to 10% lower in the countries with masked populations. Whether “masks for all” becomes an official recommendation in the US or not, at this point, if something MAY be effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19, it’s probably time to do it.

However, it’s important that you do not try to buy surgical or N95 masks! Given the dangerous shortage of protective equipment for healthcare workers on the frontlines, it is vitally important that we save surgical masks and N95 masks for those doctors, nurses, and others who are exposed to high levels of the virus.

That being said, you can still make cloth masks, or order them, for yourself or family. Studies have shown that cloth masks may help with spread of infection when used in conjunction with hand washing and physical distancing.

As a mom of two kids myself, I started looking into this a few days ago. There are several options, it seems: you could go the DIY route (basic instructions here); or you could buy them, whether from people in your communities who are selling them, or on websites, like etsy.

What type of cloth mask could work?

One study done in 2013 showed that 100% cotton t-shirts could have 69% effectiveness in protecting against organisms that are sized similar to flu viruses, and linen has 60-61%. But since COVID-19 is so new, we don’t have data about the levels of protection against this particular virus.

When choosing a fabric, one doctor suggested a “light” test, to see how effective different cloths might be – the less light that passes through the mask, the more effective it is. In fact, this doctor demonstrates how to make masks from old bras! (this doctor’s YouTube video is here)

Whatever kind of fabric you choose, keep these best practices in mind:

2-3 ply masks make sense, as the extra fabric helps filter out particles.
The fit of the mask is key: you need to make sure it covers the mouth and nose properly, and that it doesn’t slip from that area too often.
Putting a vacuum filter, or even a coffee filter, between layers of fabric may help as it causes some electrostatic friction which may ‘trap’ particles in the mask so you won’t breathe them. If you go this route, make sure that the mask has a pocket that will allow you to take out the filter when you need to wash the mask. Note that there is very little science around this idea – it’s just based on common sense at this point.
Washability of the mask is important. Remember, to sterilize, you need to use the hot water cycle in the washer, and heat dry. For this reason, synthetic fabrics may not be good.
Make sure you don’t touch the mask when you wear it. It may have contaminants on the surface. Leave it on until you get home and wash your hands after you do take it off.
Take off your mask when you get home. Place it in a plastic bag until you’re ready to do laundry. Masks should be treated as dirty and contaminated after each use.

One last thought as we venture into the “masked” new world –

Although wearing a mask can potentially help prevent the spread of infection, it should be considered an add-on, not a replacement, for physical distancing and hand hygiene. Staying away from others and vigilant hand-washing are truly the pillars of prevention, and have been proven to be effective in ‘flattening the curve” and decreasing the flow of people to our hospitals.

Reference: WebMD

How Long Does the Corona virus Live on Surfaces?

admin — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 06:32:28 +0000

The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 mainly spreads from person to person. When someone who is infected coughs or sneezes, they send droplets containing the virus into the air. A healthy person can then breathe in those droplets. You can also catch the virus if you touch a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touch your mouth, nose, or eyes.

The coronavirus can live for hours to days on surfaces like countertops and doorknobs. How long it survives depends on the material the surface is made from.

Here’s a guide to how long coronaviruses — the family of viruses that includes the one that causes COVID-19 — can live on some of the surfaces you probably touch on a daily basis. Keep in mind that researchers still have a lot to learn about the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19. For example, they don’t know whether exposure to heat, cold, or sunlight affects how long it lives on surfaces.

Metal
Examples: doorknobs, jewelry, silverware
5 days

Wood
Examples: furniture, decking
4 days

Plastics
Examples: packaging like milk containers and detergent bottles, subway and bus seats, backpacks, elevator buttons
2 to 3 days

Stainless steel
Examples: refrigerators, pots and pans, sinks, some water bottles
2 to 3 days

Cardboard
Examples: shipping boxes
24 hours

Copper
Examples: pennies, teakettles, cookware
4 hours

Aluminum
Examples: soda cans, tinfoil, water bottles
2 to 8 hours

Glass
Examples: drinking glasses, measuring cups, mirrors, windows
Up to 5 days

Ceramics
Examples: dishes, pottery, mugs
5 days

Paper
The length of time varies. Some strains of coronavirus live for only a few minutes on paper, while others live for up to 5 days.

Food

Coronavirus doesn’t seem to spread through exposure to food. Still, it’s a good idea to wash fruits and vegetables under running water before you eat them. Scrub them with a brush or your hands to remove any germs that might be on their surface. Wash your hands after you visit the supermarket. If you have a weakened immune system, you might want to buy frozen or canned produce.

Water

Coronavirus hasn’t been found in drinking water. If it does get into the water supply, your local water treatment plant filters and disinfects the water, which should kill any germs.

Coronaviruses can live on a variety of other surfaces, like fabrics and countertops.

Coronavirus Transmission: What You Need to Know

What You Can Do

To reduce your chance of catching or spreading coronavirus, clean and disinfect all surfaces and objects in your home and office every day. This includes:

Countertops
Tables
Doorknobs
Bathroom fixtures
Phones
Keyboards
Remote controls
Toilets

Use a household cleaning spray or wipe. If the surfaces are dirty, clean them first with soap and water and then disinfect them.

Keep surfaces clean, even if everyone in your house is healthy. People who are infected may not show symptoms, but they can still shed the virus onto surfaces.

After you visit the drugstore or supermarket, or bring in takeout food or packages, wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water. Do the same thing after you pick up a delivered newspaper.

WebMD Medical Reference

Corona Virus (COVID-19), Characteristics and important lessons learned!

admin — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 14:48:01 +0000

latest updates Characteristics of and Important Lessons From the Corona virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in China.

Summary of a Report of 72 314 Cases From the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reference: #Jamajournal #CoronaVirus #statistics #2020

Read original article here

Surgery or Electrochemotherapy?

admin — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 14:15:13 +0000

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) are the commonest cutaneous malignancy and incidence continues to increase. There is a need to expand the therapeutic toolbox to increase options for patients that are unsuitable for or unwilling to undergo the current therapies.

Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a technique where cells are temporarily permeabilized after exposure to a brief pulsed electrical field and combined with low dose chemotherapeutics to ablate malignancies. It is a simple technique causing minimal damage to the surrounding healthy tissue and has the potential to avoid the need for complex reconstruction. ECT is an established treatment for skin metastases but its role as a primary treatment modality is not demonstrated.

Comparative study between ElectroChemotherapy Vs Surgery

A prospective randomised control trial evaluating ECT against the gold standard of treatment, Surgery, was performed for patients with primary BCC and patients followed for 5 years. All lesions treated with ECT (n = 69) responded although 8/69 (12%) needed a second treatment to ensure a complete response. All surgical lesions (n = 48) showed histological evidence of complete excision with 2/48 (4%) undergoing a second excision. At 5 years, in the surgical arm there was no evidence of recurrence in 39/40 (97.5%) lesions with 1/40 (2.5%) confirmed recurrence. In the ECT arm there was no evidence of recurrence in 42/48 lesions (87.5%). There was 5 confirmed recurrences. These groups show statistical equivalence in this non inferiority study design (p = 0.33).

ECT is an effective and durable treatment option for primary BCC and should be considered as part of the armamentarium of options available.

Reference:

Read the original article on Elsevier Journal

Your NETWORK is your actual “net worth”!

admin — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 12:41:35 +0000

Senator Medical AB will also participate in #ArabHealth2020 to demonstrate latest oncology #FDAapproved product. WE ARE LOOKING FOR DISTRIBUTORS! Leave in comments your email address to receive a pre-introduction before we meet at the #exhibitionstand #Arabhealthcongress #exhibition #medicaldevice #distributors #whatsapp #tradeshow #oncology #cancertreatment

Who can take benefit of Electrochemotherapy? Simply explained!

admin — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 13:39:48 +0000

What is electrochemotherapy?

Electrochemotherapy is a way of getting specific chemotherapy drug into cancer cells.

It is a combination of:

Chemotherapy injected into the tumour or bloodstream
Aan electric pulse to send the chemotherapy into the cancer cells (called electroporation)

A special probe sends an electric pulse to the tumour. The electric pulse changes the outer layer of the cancer cell. This makes it easier for the chemotherapy to get inside the cell.

Who can have electrochemotherapy?

Doctors use electrochemotherapy for cancers that started in the skin or have spread to the skin from elsewhere. These include:

Basal and squamous cell skin cancers
Melanoma skin cancer
Kaposi’s sarcoma
Breast cancer that has spread to the skin
Head and neck cancers that have spread to the skin

Electrochemotherapy has been approved by many of European Health Authorities including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a possible treatment to relieve symptoms for people with cancers affecting their skin. It can help to control symptoms when other treatments are no longer working.

Most people who have this treatment have shown improvement in their symptoms. How much it helps varies from one person to another. You might need more than one treatment to control your symptoms.

Research is looking into finding out more about how well it works and which patients it can help.

Having electrochemotherapy

You usually have electrochemotherapy as a day patient. But occasionally people need to stay in hospital overnight. You will have either a general anaesthetic, so you are asleep, or you might have a local anaesthetic with a drug to make you sleepy (sedation).

You have chemotherapy as either:

An injection into the tumour (intratumoural)
An injection into your bloodstream through a small tube (intravenously)

The type of chemotherapy you might have is either Cisplatin or Bleomycin. You have much lower dose than with standard chemotherapy treatment. This is because the electric pulse helps the chemotherapy get through the cell wall. Lower doses of chemotherapy mean fewer side effects.

Injection into the tumour

You might have this treatment awake with a local anasethetic to numb the area or you might be asleep (general anasethetic).

First you have an injection of local anaesthetic to numb the area. The doctor then injects the chemotherapy and you have the electric pulse immediately afterwards.

Injection into a vein

You usually need to have this while you are asleep, under general anaesthetic.

You have the chemotherapy into a vein. Then eight minutes later, you have the electric pulse to the tumour.

The electric pulse comes from a special machine. Attached to the machine is a probe. The probe is the size of a large pen and has an electrode on it. The doctor puts the electrode against your skin to deliver an electric pulse to the tumour.

Your whole treatment can take between 10 and 60 minutes, depending on how many tumours you have.

Side effects of electrochemotherapy

The main side effect is pain in the area where the electrode touches the skin. This is usually mild and lasts for a couple of days. More rarely some people have more severe pain that can last between two and four weeks. Your doctor or clinical nurse specialist will give you some painkillers if you need them.

Some people have muscle contractions during the treatment. Your doctor can slightly alter the way they give treatment if this is uncomfortable. You may also feel sick but this is usually mild and you can have anti sickness medicines. Infection in the area you have treatment is rare. Tell your doctor if you notice the area has become redder, swollen, painful or if there is any discharge.

You might notice the colour of your skin changes where you had treatment. It might be darker or lighter. This usually fades with time but can be permanent for some people.

The area where you have treatment can form an ulcer or the skin might breakdown. If this happens you will need a nurse to dress it until it heals. This might take a couple of weeks.

Research into electrochemotherapy

So far, researchers have used electrochemotherapy to control symptoms of advanced skin cancers when other treatments aren’t working.

In the future, researchers hope that electrochemotherapy could become a treatment for early skin cancers. But we need to compare it with the current standard treatments and this can take many years.

Researchers are also looking into using electric pulses to treat cancers in body cavities. These include early bladder cancers and cancers in the chest. This treatment in body cavities is called electromotive drug administration.

Reference: Cancer Research, UK, 2019

Increase of survival & immunoresponse enhancement with ElectroChemotherapy in Lung & Colorectal cancer in mural models-2019

admin — Thu, 12 Dec 2019 09:43:07 +0000

Electrochemotherapy

Is an emerging treatment modality for cancer patients which can effectively reduce tumour burden and induce immunogenic cell death. Electrochemotherapy is most commonly used with bleomycin as the drug of choice, here we examine the efficacy of electrochemotherapy with cisplatin. Electrochemotherapy with cisplatin was found to effectively reduce tumour growth in a range of murine models and induce significant intratumoural recruitment of myeloid and humoral immune cells. Following the observations of immune system mobilisation, we have shown an ability of electrochemotherapy to reduce metastatic potential as determined by tumour burden in the lung, and to exert an abscopal effect by reducing growth at distal untreated secondary tumours.

What drugs are being used most in ElectroChemotherapy? Bleomycin & Cisplatin

Highlights

• ECT with cisplatin is an effective form of therapy showing significant decrease in cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo.•

• Immune cell mobilisation is visible locally and systemically following treatment.•

• ECT with cisplatin may be useful in reducing the growth of distal untreated growth and controlling metastatic disease.

Read the entire article on this LINK

Reference:

Cancer Letters

Volume 442, 1 February 2019, Pages 475-482

Focus shift: Breast Cancer from treatment to prevention

admin — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 08:55:00 +0000

If protective measures were widely adopted, they could significantly reduce women’s chances of ever getting breast cancer.

Efforts to reduce deaths from breast cancer in women have long focused on early detection and post-surgical treatment with drugs, radiation or both to help keep the disease at bay. And both of these approaches, used alone or together, have resulted in a dramatic reduction in breast cancer mortality in recent decades.

The average five-year survival rate is now 90 percent, and even higher — 99 percent — if the cancer is confined to the breast, or 85 percent if it has spread to regional lymph nodes.

Yet, even though a steadily growing percentage of women now survive breast cancer, the disease still frightens many women and their loved ones. It affects one woman in eight and remains their second leading cancer killer, facts that suggest at least equal time should be given to what could be an even more effective strategy:

Prevention

Long-term studies involving tens of thousands of women have highlighted many protective measures that, if widely adopted, could significantly reduce women’s chances of ever getting breast cancer. Even the techniques now used to screen for possible breast cancer can help identify those women who might be singled out for special protective measures.

Reference & entire original article at The New York Times

Senator Medical AB – Senator Medical AB

New Cancer Treatment possibilities

Gene editing revolution – what is it? CRISPR simply explained!

Do you think we can re-invent ourselves during the crisis?!

Even during a pandemic, you don’t have to put your career transitions on hold.

Important points about: Cloth Face Masks

How Long Does the Corona virus Live on Surfaces?

Corona Virus (COVID-19), Characteristics and important lessons learned!

Surgery or Electrochemotherapy?

A randomised control trial comparing electrochemotherapy and surgery with five year follow up for primary basal cell carcinoma

Comparative study between ElectroChemotherapy Vs Surgery

Reference:

Your NETWORK is your actual “net worth”!

Who can take benefit of Electrochemotherapy? Simply explained!

What is electrochemotherapy?

Who can have electrochemotherapy?

Having electrochemotherapy

Injection into the tumour

Injection into a vein

Side effects of electrochemotherapy

Research into electrochemotherapy

Increase of survival & immunoresponse enhancement with ElectroChemotherapy in Lung & Colorectal cancer in mural models-2019

Electrochemotherapy

Highlights

Cancer Letters

Focus shift: Breast Cancer from treatment to prevention

If protective measures were widely adopted, they could significantly reduce women’s chances of ever getting breast cancer.

Prevention