Fireflies Offer Weapon Against Cancer

Spark Can Trigger Cancer Treatment Deep Inside the Body

April 15, 2003 — The firefly, with its gentle spark in the night sky, may prove to be a potent cancer treatment. Researchers are testing a firefly gene, one that triggers a lethal chain of events in cancer cells. Their paper appears in this month’s issue of Cancer Research. In their study, researchers explore this concept of photodynamic therapy. It is a well-established cancer treatment, one that uses bursts of light to attack tumors near the skin’s surface or on the lining of internal organs, writes lead researcher Theodossis Theodossiou, PhD, with the University College London. Photodynamic therapy is effective for superficial cancer treatments, since lasers and lamps can easily be applied. Optical fibers can be inserted, using needles, for slightly deeper treatments on organ surfaces. However, when cancer has spread or if tumors are deep, photodynamic therapy has not been a cancer treatment option. In this laboratory study, scientists inserted the firefly’s luciferase gene — the gene that activates bioluminescent light — into cancer cells. The cells essentially became miniature lamps, giving out light that could trigger their own destruction, they explain in a news release. ‘The cells produced enough light to trigger their own death,’ says Theodossiou. Since the light is generated inside the tumor cell, outside light sources are not necessary, researchers add. They are now studying the procedure on prostate cancer cells, hoping to eventually test it on patients. The applications are far-reaching, they say. If luciferase can be inserted into primary tumors, it could migrate to cancer cells that spread — a new cancer treatment, Theodossiou says.(Source: WebMD, sited in, Cancer Research, April 2003. News release, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Jeanie Lerche Davis.