Show Date: June 7, 2006 
Pam Eastlick for THE DEEP on line

NAMING A KILLER

Welcome to The Deep science and technology column where we cover topics from the deep sea to deep space and beyond. Join us each week on Newstalk K57 on Wednesday night from 7 to 8 p.m. for exciting live science expeditions or listen live on our web site www.thedeepradioshow.com

It is the belief in many primitive cultures that if you learn the true name of someone or something, it gives you power over that person or thing. This week on The Deep, we are going to give a name and a face to one of the world’s most dreaded killers. No, it’s not the great white shark or crocodiles, it isn’t a tsunami or earthquakes or typhoons. It’s a killer that can strike anywhere, at anytime and no one on Earth is safe.

This week, we’re giving a name to this waster of life; it’s cancer. Cancer is defined as “A general term for about 100 diseases characterized by uncontrolled, abnormal growth of cells.” Cancer doesn’t strike from without; cancer happens when your very own cells stop listening to the DNA that gives them their instructions and strike out on their own. Growth occurs when one of your body’s cells splits and forms two cells. Many cells do this to replace cells that have died. It also happens when children grow (or when you gain weight) and to replace skin cells and make hair and nails grow. Most normal adult body cells don’t divide.

But occasionally, something goes wrong and a cell (or group of cells) starts to divide uncontrollably. They continue to divide and divide and they form a tumor. Cancer cells from the tumor can spread through the blood or lymph (the clear fluid that bathes body cells) to start new cancers in other parts of the body. This is called metastasis.

Cancer treatment used to involve cutting out the tumor and hoping that it hadn’t spread. Then we began to use radiation on the tumor to shrink or kill it. Both methods are still being used, but we have made astounding strides in cancer treatment. A vaccination on trial right now holds great promise in the treatment of advanced breast cancer. Drugs like Tamoxifen and Herceptin have also cut breast cancer deaths.

A new treatment for brain disorders, including cancer is the Leksell Gamma Knife®. This astounding treatment uses computerized data from diagnostic tests like CAT scans or MRI’s to pinpoint problem areas within the brain and destroy them using multiple beams of gamma radiation. The patient wears a helmet with 201 holes. A tiny beam of gamma radiation (the highest energy possible) passes through each hole. The beam is so small that tissue along the route to the lesion receives only a harmless, low dose of radiation. Then, the gamma beams converge to produce a high dose of radiation at the exact site of the lesion. Thus, the Gamma Knife "cuts" deep into the brain without using a scalpel at all. This week on The Deep, we’re giving a name and a face to a killer. Join us as we speak to cancer survivors and learn how science is learning the ‘true name’ of cancer and discovering new ways to protect you and me and our family and friends.

Gamma Knife simulation

The Deep is broadcast on Newstalk K57 every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. You can also listen live from our web site www.thedeepradioshow.com. Join Jim Sullivan, Pam Eastlick, and Peter Melyan on the deepest radio show on Earth.