万花筒 2010-03-14&03-15 贴膏药治皮肤癌（在线收听）

There are no scare poles ,no pain killing injections needed for this skin cancer treatment ,a harmless cream and a special plaster are all it takes.

Inside the device,a tiny LED light activates a drug in the cream to create a toxic chemical that kills the diseased cells. The Ambulight device works like this,a cream containing an inactive chemical is rubbed into the skin where it's absorbed by cancer cells but not normal tissue. Three hours later,the light in the plaster automatically switches on for a set time,converting the chemical into a lethal drug,it kills the cancer but leaves the healthy cells alone .

"We are looking 80% to 90% complete cure with it,and what we are hoping is to optimize that further by looking at various new ways of delivering the light pulsing,for example,so there is a lot of room for improvement."

The treatment is called photo dynamic therapy,it is increasingly being used in hospitals,but up to now it's needed bulky lamps like this by miniaturizing the technology into a sticking plaster. It becomes incredibly simple to use,patients could go to their GP surgery to have the plaster put on and then go home for the treatment.