They are still some time away from implementation

Feb 1, 2010 22:01 GMT  ·  By
Nanoparticles, in brown, attach themselves to cancer cells, in violet, from the human abdominal cavity
   Nanoparticles, in brown, attach themselves to cancer cells, in violet, from the human abdominal cavity

Scientists at the Georgia Institute of technology (Georgia Tech) and the Ovarian Cancer Institute have recently developed a new type of nanoparticles that could be used in the near future to successfully fight cancer. The magnetic particles are able to find and affix themselves to cancer cells, and then eliminate them from within the body, the researchers say. The work was tested on unsuspecting lab mice in 2008, and human clinical trials, on small batches of patients, are currently underway. Details of the nanostructures appear in the latest issue of the respected scientific journal Nanomedicine.

“We are primarily interested in developing an effective method to reduce the spread of ovarian cancer cells to other organs,” Georgia Tech School of Biology Professor John McDonald, who is also the Ovarian Cancer Institute chief research scientist, explains. The idea on which the new cancer-removal system was built was originally conceived to be a method of extracting viruses, and virally infected cells, from within the human body. It was developed by Ken Scarberry, who was a PhD student at Georgia Tech at the time. His supervisor suggested that he tried the nanoparticles out on cancer cells too.

Scarberry collaborated with McDonald on a paper the two published in 2008, in the respected Journal of the American Chemical Society. In that paper, the researchers show how they managed to label cancer cells with a green fluorescent marker, and the magnetic nanoparticles with a red one. They then proceeded to combine the two using magnets, and managed to assemble all cancer cells in the abdominal cavity. The research was also conducted on mice. The new investigation built up on this research, and took everything one step further.

“Often, the lethality of cancers is not attributed to the original tumor but to the establishment of distant tumors by cancer cells that exfoliate from the primary tumor. Circulating tumor cells can implant at distant sites and give rise to secondary tumors. Our technique is designed to filter the peritoneal fluid or blood and remove these free floating cancer cells, which should increase longevity by preventing the continued metastatic spread of the cancer,” Scarberry explains.