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other treatments for brain tumours - Cytotron?

jennyma
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Hello forum members

Has anyone out there had any experience with Cytotron for treatment of brain cancer?  I am in contact with one lady whose son has had treatment but am a bit wary as there does not seem to be anything on the internet other than information connected to the inventors of the machine.  Any news or information for me please?

 

thanks Jenny

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    Hi jennyma.

    No one else has piped up so I'll step in.  This is my opinion, for what it's worth.

    For a treatment that's been around for about 10 years, this is the first time I'd ever heard of it. That in itself is odd. If the treatment was so good then there'd be a buzz about it, which there isn't.

    Trying to find information about it, one almost draws a blank. Most unusually, there isn't even Wikipedia page one can refer to. There is some waffling explanation on the web about the machine and how it's supposed to work, but there doesn't seem to be a coherent scientific explanation of how and why radio waves should affect cells in any therapeutic manner.  We don't even know the radio frequencies, or the strength of the magnetic fields, and I'm confused how lasers can guide radio waves through the body to a particular location.  I can't help thinking that a conventional MRI scanner should do more of what the machine does, yet I'm not aware of anyone claiming MRI scans are curative.  

    There is a shortage of scientific papers to back up the claims. There do not appear to be any double blind trials that have either been carried out or are currently in the planning stage.

    I personally wouldn't use this form of treatment. It is too experimental and there's insufficient evidence to prove that it is a useful therapy.  Of course, that's my opinion, and you're free to ignore it. 

     

  • Offline in reply to telemando

    thanks telemndo

     

    would feel exactly the same but have met the mother of son who has been treated 4 times with machine and his tumour is is now much smaller and inactive.  Just dont want to suggest this as route to husband without more information.

     

     

  • Offline in reply to jennyma

    Hi jennyma

    I think I would want to find out what other treatments were carried out in addition to the Cytotron. What was the doctor's prognosis before Cytotron treatment, what is the prognosis now, and are there actual MRI/CT scans to confirm that the tumour has shrunk. However, getting that information might prove quite difficult, as it's not easy to ask a mother to provide this level of detail about a sick son. 

    If a treatment looks like it will do no harm (apart from to your bank balance), and might do some good, then maybe that is sufficient reason to give it a try. 

  • Hello Jenny and thank you for your post.

    I can see that there is some information about cytotron treatment on the internet but I cannot see any scientific or medical evidence that this is a safe or useful cancer treatment.  There are a couple of clinical trials running that are looking at it as a possible treatment for multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy in children. I cannot see anything looking at it as possible treatment for cancer.

    I do need to say that if you are considering trying to access this treatment for yourself or someone you know you should speak with the specialist doctor first.  Became this is currently not a recommended treatment in the UK care needs to be taken and I do advise you to seek advice from the doctor treating the patient.

    I hope this has been of some help. You would be very welcome to give us a call to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

    Take care,

    Caroline

  • Offline in reply to CRUK Nurse Caroline

    Hi all, thank you for this discussion and for the opinions offered. Having come across a few more articles online about the merits of Cytron, may i ask if there has been updated guidance released about this therapy which now seems to have received FDA approval in the USA as a breakthrough device for cancer care? Thanks in advance and kind regards...

  • in reply to KGB

    Hello KGB and thanks for posting,  

    To answer your question I did a search on the FDA (The US Food and Drug Administration) website,  using the word cytotron, but no results came up.

    FDA approval isn't the same as a breakthrough device approval, this is explained on the FDA website here . 

    It seems that the FDA doesn't publicly disclose whether a developer has submitted a breakthrough device designation request for a device, or whether the FDA has granted or denied that request. It is up to the developer to make that information available to the public. And I noticed that the health technology company that is developing cytotron Shreis, have chosen to post about this on their website at this link explaining that the cytroton is not an approved medical device for use in the US.

    I'm afraid this is as much as I can tell you. 

    Please give us a ring if you want to talk anything over.   The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and we are around weekdays, 9-5.

    Best wishes,

    Julia

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