Nanoparticles help destroy cancer cells

Hollow gold nanospheres are being hailed as the latest step forward in the fight against cancer.

The tiny man-made gold particles, thousands of time narrower than a human hair, search out and ‘cook’ cancer cells according to a report published today.

The nanosphere is equipped with a peptide which draws it to malignant melanoma cells. When exposed to a near-infrared light they heat up, damaging the cancer cells while not damaging the surrounding healthy skin cells.

“This technique is very promising and exciting,” study co-author Jin Zhang of the University of California in Santa Cruz said.

“It’s basically like putting a cancer cell in hot water and boiling it to death. The more heat the metal nanospheres generate, the better.”

Dr Zhang has spent years of research working towards the goal of developing spheres with an optimal light absorption capacity in the near-infrared region.

The nanospheres have so far only been tested in mice. Testing in humans is the next step before the gold nanoparticles can be used in clinical practice.