at the University of Leeds, said: “High recurrence rates of tumors
after surgical removal remain a formidable challenge in cancer therapy.
Chemo- or radiotherapy is often given following surgery to prevent this,
but these treatments cause serious side effects.
Gold nanotubes, that is, gold nanoparticles with tubular
structures that resemble tiny drinking straws have the potential to
enhance the efficacy of these conventional treatments by integrating
diagnosis and therapy in one single system.”
“When the gold nanotubes travel through the body, if light of the
right frequency is shone on them they absorb the light. This light
energy is converted to heat, rather like the warmth generated by the Sun
on skin. Using a pulsed laser beam, we were able to rapidly raise the
temperature in the vicinity of the nanotubes so that it was high enough
to destroy cancer cells.” In cell-based studies, by adjusting the brightness of the laser
pulse, the researchers say they were able to control whether the gold
nanotubes were in cancer-destruction mode, or ready to image tumors.
“The nanotubes can be tumor-targeted and have a central ‘hollow’
core that can be loaded with a therapeutic payload. This combination of
targeting and localized release of a therapeutic agent could, in this
age of personalized medicine, be used to identify and treat cancer with
minimal toxicity to patients.”
The use of gold nanotubes in imaging and other biomedical
applications is currently progressing through trial stages towards early
clinical studies.
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