Light meets precision with a click
Current Treatments and SCALPEL
Cancer treatment has made significant strides in recent decades, extending lives and, in some cases, achieving remission. But many people still live with cancer as a chronic condition, or face the risk of recurrence or metastasis — when cancer returns or spreads to other parts of the body. In many cases, existing treatments can control the disease, but do not eliminate it entirely.
Current Cancer Treatments
Standard treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and, more recently, immunotherapy. These treatments are often used in combination depending on the type and stage of cancer.
Surgery involves removing the tumour and surrounding tissue and is most effective for localised solid cancers.
Chemotherapy uses drugs to destroy or slow the growth of cancer cells but can affect healthy cells and cause systemic side effects. Though initially effective it is a matter of time for the cancer to build resistance against it and render it no longer effective.
Radiotherapy applies high-energy radiation to damage the DNA of cancer cells, leading to cell death over time. It is often limited by how much radiation the body can safely tolerate.
Immunotherapy helps the body’s immune system detect and attack cancer cells, but responses can vary depending on tumour type and individual biology. It is becoming increasingly evident, that immunotherapy works best in combinatory treatments.
While these therapies have improved survival and quality of life, they often carry significant physical, emotional and financial burdens and in many cases they do not prevent recurrence.
Why New Approaches Are Needed: Light-based therapy
Increasingly, evidence shows that monotherapies are rarely enough to achieve long-term control or cure. Some cancer cells survive initial treatment, contributing to relapse or metastasis. These surviving cells — often resistant and difficult to detect — represent a critical challenge in oncology. Photomedical treatments like Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) and Photochemical Internalisation (PCI) have begun to show great promise as effective anticancer treatments.
These light-based therapies involve using a light-activated drug (photosensitiser) to destroy cancer cells. The photosensitizer is administered and then a specific type of light, usually a laser, is hone onto the treated area, activating the drug and causing it to kill cancer cells and surrounding tissues. This type of treatment could help to overcome most (if not all) of current treatment limitations.
Such light-based treatments however face the limitation of low penetration of light into tissue which can lead to incomplete tumour cell eradication and hence disease recurrence. In fact, residual cancer cells, which can trigger a relapse, present a major problem in most existing therapeutic anticancer approaches and constitute an unmet medical need.
This is where SCALPEL clicks in.
The SCALPEL Approach: Precision Meets Light
SCALPEL is developing a dual-action, light-based therapy designed to eliminate not only the bulk of tumour cells, but also the residual cells that can trigger recurrence. In the first phase, SCALPEL uses photomedical techniques like Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) and Photochemical Internalisation (PCI) to destroy the majority of the tumour. These light-activated therapies offer high precision with fewer side effects, but may leave behind a small population of resistant cells due to the limited tissue penetration of light.
SCALPEL addresses this critical gap. In the second phase, engineered antibodies with “clickable” components are introduced. Exploiting the outcomes of the targeted light application, these antibodies bind to the remaining tumour cells, marking them for destruction by the immune system. This approach offers:
- High specificity to avoid damage to healthy cells
- Potential immune memory to help prevent recurrence (abscopal immunity)
- A novel, hybrid approach combining phototherapy with immune activation
While still in early development, the SCALPEL approach represents an example of out-of-the-box thinking about cancer treatment — sweeping away what often remains untreatable in current therapies.
Looking Ahead
SCALPEL is currently in the conceptual and early experimental phase. Our long-term goal is to develop a clinically viable treatment that could complement and enhance existing therapies and offer a new treatment especially for patients at risk of recurrence. Cancer treatment will continue to evolve. With SCALPEL, we are proud to be part of this global effort working toward more targeted, less invasive and more durable solutions for the future of oncology.