Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in people from all walks of life. Cancer researchers are constantly pushing the envelope discovering new and improved ways to treat and diagnose cancer to improve survival rates of patients.

A researcher at the University of Colorado School of Medicine has discovered a new way to treat one of the most deadly forms of eye cancer called choroidal melanoma. The cancer can strike anyone and leaves half of all patients treated for the condition by current means partially blind in the cancerous eye within three years of the procedure.

Dr. Scott Oliver, assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, has found that applying a silicone oil inside the eye can block up to 55 percent of the harmful radiation associated with radiation treatments to kill the tumor.

Oliver said, "Radiation injures blood vessels and nerves in the back of the eye. Half of all patients are legally blind in three years in the treated eye." He continued saying, "You don't have to block out all the radiation to protect the eye because the vital structures in the eye can tolerate low doses of radiation."

Choroidal melanoma of the eye is most common and dangerous form of eye cancer and strikes about 2,000 people each year and it can metastasize to the lungs and liver where it is often fatal. The common treatment today is attaching a golden cap with radioactive seeds to the white part of the eye surgically. The process is called plaque brachytherapy and the golden cap is left on the patient's eye for a week.

So far, Oliver has experimented with the procedure using the silicone oil on animals in the lab and has so far noted no side effects to the procedure. The process has also been tested on cadaver eyes.

"We are now at the point where we can embark on a clinical trial," he said. "This is a significant development in the way we treat this disease. In the past, we could save the eye with radiation but we saved vision only half the time. With this treatment, I believe we will do much better in the future."

Scientists in Israel also recently discovered a new method of delivering drugs directly into cancer cells. The process they developed uses drugs delivered by a nano-vehicle that releases drugs when it encounters a cancer cell.