14 DAY TRIAL // A group of investigators in the United States has just been awarded two grants to develop a type of nanoparticles capable of seeking out and destroying micrometastases, cancerous formations too small to be detected using conventional screening methods.
The team at Case Western Reserve University received $1.7 / €1.26 million to focus their research on aggressive forms of cancer that do not respond well to chemotherapy, and which can continue to produce tumors even as the treatment is being applied.
Metastasis is the leading cause of cancer death. The term is used to denote cancer that has spread to all major organs. The main mechanism through which diseased cells propagate is via the concealed growth and travel of micrometastases, structures so tiny that they usually avoid detection.
The CWRU group now studies ligands, a series of molecular coatings that are attached to nanoscale chains, allowing the latter to home in on cancer cells in the body. Once the micrometastases are found, they can be addressed individually as they occur.