Oduom (Ash), May 17, GNA – The Breast Care International (BCI), a non-government organization (NGO) leading the treatment of breast cancer in Africa is set to use a new technology to treat cancers in the Sub-Saharan Africa.
The new technology would complement the efforts of BCI and Peace and Love hospitals in the fight against cancers in Ghana, especially breast cancer.
The technology, known as ‘Tiny Drones to Deliver Cancer’, when applied, will eliminate the side effects in cancer treatment like the loss of hair among others.
It was invented by Professor Wilfred Ngwa, an American based Cameroonian lecturer at the John Hopkins University, and it is expected to begin in Ghana in 2023.
Dr. Mrs. Beatrice Wiafe Addai, who is also the CEO of Peace and Love Hospital, made this known during a meeting with the Peace and Love Breast Cancer Survivors Association (PALSA) at Oduom in Kumasi.
The meeting was to introduce the survivors to the three Commissioners of Lancet Oncology, comprising Prof. Wilfred Ngwa (USA), David Kerr from the Oxford University (UK) and Dr. Mrs. Beatrice Wiafe Addai, from Ghana.
It was also to interact with survivors to assess their situations after the launch of the Lancet Oncology Commission report in Accra.
The Lancet Oncology Commission report is to support the management, research, reporting, prevention, treatment and palliative care of cancer in Sub-Sahara Africa.
Dr. Mrs. Wiafe Addai said cancer patients would no longer go through the vigorous treatment in cancer, saying that the new technology would complement the efforts of BCI in the fight against breast cancer.
“Cancer patients in the Sub – Saharan Africa, especially Ghana, will no longer go through the vigorous treatment in cancer. The new technology when starts rolling in 2023, will complement the BCI’s efforts in the fight against breast cancer in the Ghana,” Dr. Addai said.
“I am glad that my PALSA was captured in the Lancet Oncology Commission report and we will co-operate with any research in Africa that the report recommended,” the Consultant Surgeon added.
Prof. Ngwa, who also lectures at Harvard University, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), disclosed that the clinical trials were starting at Harvard and John Hopkins Universities this year, with Ghana having its turn in 2023.
Prof. Ngwa said most of the cancers reported in Africa were late, saying that the cancer spreads to the parts of the body before it was reported, and the only option was to do surgery.
“With ‘Tiny Drones to Deliver Cancer’, no matter where the cancer has spread to, it will strengthen the immune system and fight it, without any side effects like the chemo and radio therapies with loss of hair among others,” he assured.
‘Tiny Drones to Deliver Cancer’ is new technology designed to kill cancer cells that have spread to other parts of the body, it combines microscopic nanoparticles with medicine, all packed into a tiny drone in the size of a grain of rice.
The rice-size materials are routinely implanted in patients to guide radiotherapy treatment of cancers.
The smart technology, which is employed at no additional inconvenience to patients, once in place, will proficiently release the microscopic particles/medicine to enhance local tumor cell death during radiotherapy and act as a beacon to call in the patient’s white blood cells.
The white blood cells are then trained to kill cancer cells and can patrol the entire body, fighting cancer that has spread with greater effectiveness.
GNA