According to the information shared by the Israel-based device maker Novocure on Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently given its approval to a new, wearable device - the portable NovoTFF 100-A System - which fights glioblastoma brain tumors using an electrical field.

Capable of blasting cancerous brain tumors using electrical energy fields, the new NovoTFF is the first device to receive FDA approval as an alternative to chemotherapy. Since it can be carried around by the patients, it enables them to remain active while their tumors are treated.

Studies have shown that the NovoTFF device - a novel treatment for patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain tumors which have progressed or recurred following chemotherapy – increases the life-span of the cancer patients by as long as those taking chemotherapy, that is, approximately six months. However, patients using the device reportedly had notably fewer side effects.

The NovoTFF device chiefly works by using electric fields for disrupting cancer-cell division, which otherwise facilitates the growth and spread of the tumors. The electric fields hardly have any effect on the healthy cells as their division takes place at a much slower pace vis-à-vis cancer cells.

Noting that the device underscores “a novel, non-invasive alternative to chemotherapy that is safe and effective,” Novocure's Chief Medical Officer Eilon Kirson said: “The device allows for continuous treatment without the usual, debilitating side effects that chemotherapies inflict on recurrent GBM patients and indirectly on their families.”