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 US 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 at a Washington cancer conference.
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