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Tuesday, 28th March 2006 (6221 views)

Researchers have discovered a new and safer way of using gold nanoparticles to kill cancer cells.

Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of California, San Francisco had already demonstrated that tiny particles of the precious metal could be used in non-invasive cancer treatment, azonano.com reports.

However, Mostafa El-Sayed and his son Ivan El-Sayed said they have now discovered that greater effects can be achieved by changing the shape of the particles.

Cylindrical gold nanorods are able to detect malignant tumours in the body and selectively destroy them using less powerful lasers than before. This allows for safer non-invasive treatment because it does not harm the healthy cells.

The scientists knew that gold nanoparticles could be made to cling to malignant tumour cells. They then scatter light and make it easy to target the cancerous cells.

But rod-shaped nanoparticles respond to a lowered frequency, meaning that near-infrared lasers can be used – which penetrate deeper under the skin.

Mostafa El-Sayed said: "With the nanospheres we're using visible lasers, but most of the solid cancer is under the tissues and visible light doesn't go but a few millimeters deep. But by using the nanorods we can tune them to react to the infrared lasers, which can penetrate the tumour without being absorbed by the tissues."

 

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