Nanotubules destroys cancer cells
applications was demonstrated once again after researchers were
able to demonstrate the destruction of cancer cells whilst keeping
healthy tissue unharmed.
The discovery sheds new light over the longstanding problem in medicine, which is how to cure cancer without harming normal body tissues. Chemotherapy is indiscriminate destroying cancer and normal cells alike. This is the reason why patients often lose their hair and/or suffer devastating side effects.
The technique involves inserting microscopic synthetic carbon nanotubules into cancer cells. The rods were then exposed to near infra red light generated from a laser, heating up the rod and eventually killing the cell. Cells that were without rods were left untouched. Under normal circumstances near-infra red light passes through the body harmlessly.
To make things more complicated, the team of researchers, from Stanford University, were working with carbon nanotubules half the width of a DNA molecule in which thousands could easily fit inside a normal cell.
Hongjie Dai, lead researcher of the study at Stanford University said: "It's actually quite simple and amazing. We're using an intrinsic property of nanotubes to develop a weapon that kills cancer."
Further research into the carbon nanotubules revealed that by coating them with folate molecules the nanotubules could easily pass into cancer cells but were unable to bind to the healthy ones. Unlike normal cells, the surface of cancer cells is covered with receptors for a folate vitamin.
The researchers said that it would be possible to further refine the technique. One such example would be to attach an antibody to a nanotubule to target a particular kind of cancer cell. The scientists have already started work on tailoring the technique to target lymphoma in mice.
The work however is in its early stages and the ultimate test is to reproduce the effects in the more complicated environment of a tumour and the human body. The work so far has focused on cells that have been grown in culture in the laboratory.
This technique is yet another variation on the nanoparticle theme and its applications to cancer treatment. A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), developed a nanoparticle that can penetrate a tumour, cut off its blood supply and release a lethal dose of anti-cancer toxins, while leaving healthy cells unscathed.
The double-acting, drug-packing nanocell, leaves healthy cells unscathed, against two distinct forms of cancers - melanoma and lung cancer - in mice.
