Nanoparticles with X-rays can kill Cancer cells

Researchers from the Center for Nanoscale BioPhotonics (CNBP), an Australian Research Center of Excellence, have shown that nanoparticles used in combination with X-rays, are a viable method for killing cancer cells deep within the living body.
The research is based on the successful quantification of singlet oxygen produced during photodynamic therapy for cancer. Singlet oxygen molecules (a highly reactive form of oxygen) are able to kill or inhibit growth of cancer cells in the body due to their toxicity.
Co-lead author on the paper, Ewa Goldys, Deputy Director of the CNBP and Professor at Macquarie University, explains, “Photodynamic therapy is where light sensitive compounds are placed near diseased cells, then activated by light, producing short lived molecular by-products that can destroy or damage the cells being targeted.”
“In this case, X-rays (a form of light) were used to stimulate cerium fluoride (CeF3) nanoparticles which had been placed near a group of cells. Singlet oxygen was produced as a by-product of the X-ray and CeF3 interaction, which was then successfully measured.”
Goldys believes the research is significant, as this is the first time that anyone has been able to quantify accurately, the number of singlet oxygen molecules produced in this type of procedure.
“Singlet oxygen molecules are a far more reactive form of oxygen but they can only kill cancer cells if generated in sufficient quantity,” says Goldys.