Researchers of a new study have suggested a new type of electromagnetic field therapy called tumor-treating fields can help to increase the survival rate among patients with brain tumor who have undergone routine chemotherapy.

In the research published in the journal JAMA, the researchers tested the therapy in people with glioblastoma, which is one of the most devastating forms of brain cancer in adults.

Most patients with glioblastoma die within a year or two of diagnosis, said the researchers. Several attempts that are made to treat such patients have been a failure so far.

Explaining the working of Tumor-treating fields, or TTFields, the researchers said that it works by selectively disrupting the division of cells by delivering low-intensity, intermediate-frequency alternating electric fields to the head.

The device is fitted in a special back pack, which contains electrodes that are attached with the patient’s shaved scalp.

Dr. Roger Stupp of University Hospital Zurich and the University of Zurich, Switzerland along with his colleagues recruited around 695 patients with glioblastoma. The patients were from over 80 different centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Israel, and South Korea, who completed standard chemo and radiation therapy.

Randomly around 466 participants were selected to receive the treatment with TTFields plus the chemotherapy drug temozolomide, while the other 229 patients received temozolomide alone.

The results of the study funded by Novocure, an oncology company specializing in TTFields, showed that patients who underwent the electromagnetic therapy survived longer.