Nanoparticles Could Deliver Cancer Drugs

Scientists at MIT, Harvard and laboratories around the world are developing nanoparticles that could provide targeted cancer detection and treatment.

The idea may sound like something out of science fiction but the federal government has agreed to provide nearly $150 million to fund development which is bringing oncologists, chemists and computer scientists together in an attempt to discover new methods of treating cancer.

Traditional cancer treatment has progressed from a scatter shot approach to more targeted therapies but they lack the precision to spare healthy cells and tissue. With that in mind, scientists are testing nanoparticles that can detect, monitor and treat cancerous growths.

The particles are less than one-ten millionth the size of a tennis ball but their impact could be huge.

One of the biggest frustrations facing a doctor who is about to perform cancer related surgery is whether the cancer has infected surrounding tissue and or lymph nodes. Surgeons often remove large amounts of surrounding tissue in an effort to clear areas that may have affected.

At Massachusetts General Hospital, scientists began using rust (iron oxide) particles to search for cancer laden lymph nodes. If no cancer is present in lymph nodes then the rion will be absorbed and the lymph nodes will show up healthy on an MRI scan. However malignant cells can't absorb the particles so they will show up as white areas where the iron was not absorbed.

The procedure has been successfully tested on breast, colon, prostate and testicular cancer and is waiting for FDA approval.

In addition, the combination of advanced imaging technologies and nanoparticles could allow doctors to get a better understanding of a patients condition and offer tailored therapies.

At MIT, scientists are working to develop rust particles that not only detect cancer but could deliver medicine by carrying it or having it attached to the particles themselves. Their two biggest challenges are making sure the medicine stays with the particle and that it isn't removed by the liver.

For long term cancer management, scientists are looking to develop nanoparticles that would be implanted so that doctors could periodically test to see if a benign growth has become malignant or whether a tumor has spread. They are developing a plastic particle that would contain a particle of iron oxide that would act as a lure for cancer related proteins.

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