Nano Particles
Nanotechnology has been harnessed to kill cancer cells
without harming healthy tissue.
The development of nanotechnology allows for efficient delivery of therapeutics into tumor cells. Some nanotechnology molecules can form cage-like structures, which can be filled with chemotherapeutic agents.
Many chemotherapy agents prove extremely damaging to healthy tissue as well as cancer cells, so concentrating the chemotherapy drug inside the tumor will help eliminate side effects.
To do this, the nanomolecule that is attached to specific antibodies will be attracted to tumor cells, so the nanomolecules become concentrated within the tumor cells. This delivers a high dose of chemotherapy treatment into the cancer cell, while avoiding healthy tissue.
Nanotechnology is being applied to cancer in two broad areas: the development of nanovectors, such as nanoparticles, which can be loaded with drugs or imaging agents and then targeted to tumors, and high-throughput nanosensor devices for detecting the biological signatures of cancer.
Formulations of drugs made from nano-particles have shown the ability to overcome biological barriers — for example, by leaking through the blood vessels inside a tumor — to concentrate on localized cancers. Because of this, nanotechnology-based drugs may be used in smaller doses and are less likely to disperse to healthy parts of the body.
Hossam Haick, Ph.D., and his colleagues at the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, used a network of 10 sets of chemically modified carbon nanotubes to create a multicomponent sensor capable of discriminating between a healthy breath and one characteristic of lung cancer patients. This work appears in the journal Nano News.
Read more:
Articles using Nanotechnology:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/121727-treatments-cancer-using-nanotechnology/#ixzz1XrdaJOQV
http://www.livestrong.com/article/121727-treatments-cancer-using-nanotechnology/#ixzz1XrcxcDUS
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