A 'sci-fi' cancer therapy fights brain tumors, study finds

April 2, 2017 at 11:19 a.m. | Updated April 2, 2017 at 11:30 a.m.

by Associated Press

In this March 29, 2017 photo, Joyce Endresen wears an Optune therapy device for brain cancer, as she speaks on a phone at work in Aurora, Ill. She was diagnosed in December 2014 with Glioblastoma. She had two surgeries to remove the tumor as well as radiation and chemotherapy, but is now trying the new therapy that requires her to wear the electrodes on her head as much as possible. They create low intensity electric fields that disrupt cell reproduction, which makes the cells die. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger)
In this March 29, 2017 photo, Joyce Endresen wears an Optune therapy device for brain cancer, as she speaks on a phone at work in Aurora, Ill. She was diagnosed in December 2014 with Glioblastoma. She had two surgeries to remove the tumor as well as radiation and chemotherapy, but is now trying the new therapy that requires her to wear the electrodes on her head as much as possible. They create low intensity electric fields that disrupt cell reproduction, which makes the cells die. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger)

WASHINGTON (AP) - It sounds like science fiction, but doctors say a device worn on the head that makes electric fields improved survival for the first time in more than a decade for people with deadly brain tumors.

The device, made by Novocure and sold in the U.S. and elsewhere, is not a cure. But a study found more than twice as many patients were alive five years after wearing the apparatus plus undergoing the usual chemotherapy than those given just the chemo, 13 percent versus 5 percent.

The electronic fields supposedly disrupt cell division, causing cancer cells to die. Patients attach electrodes to their shaved scalp, carry a small generator in a bag and wear the device at least 18 hours a day.

Results were discussed Sunday at a Washington cancer conference.

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