A New Option for Brain Cancer Patients

FDA approved a new device, Novocure's NovoTTF, that purports to treat brain tumors with "electrical energy fields," reports the Associated Press' Matthew Perrone. The device has been approved for patients with aggressive tumors that have come back after previous treatment with chemotherapy and other therapies. Novocure says the device uses electrical fields to disrupt cancer cell division with little effect on healthy cells, Perrone reports. Studies on the NovoTTF show that patients using it lived about as long as those taking chemotherapy — roughly six months — but with fewer side effects, he adds. One clinician tells Perrone that the device is a good second option for patients after primary treatment has failed, especially because it lacks the debilitating side effects that often accompany chemotherapy.