The Holy Grail in the field of Medicine is to discover a substance that is able to effectively attack cancerous cells without destroying healthy tissue around it. From focused treatment regimens like monoclonal antibodies to surgery, cancers has still successfully evaded treatment that discreetly and separately attacks it without harming nearby tissue.
Nanotechnology is basically the manipulation of matter at a molecular and even atomic level in order to penetrate living cells is signifying hope for opening up a new front line against the war on deadly diseases such as Ebola and cancer.
According to Dr. Thomas Webster, the chair of chemical engineering at Northeastern University in Boston, significant research into medical nanotechnology is gaining ground and the medical establishment is beginning to take notice. At the heart of the technology is the ability to be able to attach drugs, and in some instance metals and minerals, to nanoparticles so that they would bind themselves to life threatening cancer cells and viruses.
Gold Nanoparticles
In one particular study, Dr. Webster’s team is developing techniques to allow gold nanoparticles to cancer cells. Infrared light would serve to heat up the nanoparticles, which kills the cancer cells, but leave healthy cells alive to perform their function.
According to Dr. Webster, “This technology has been studied for the better part of a decade, but we’re looking at ways of making it better, one that we’ve created in the lab we’ve called ‘nanostars.’
“A star shape has a lot more surface area, so they can kill cancer cells faster than a nanosphere because they heat up faster.
“Even if it’s carrying a drug, a star has a lot more surface area on which to attach it — it’s got a different morphology.”
The Future, Today
While nanoparticle technology is still considered in its infancy, nanostructured surfaces are already forming part of the medical firmament. Dr. Webster says, “These are being approved by the Food and Drug Administration and we’re seeing better bone growth, better tissue growth and we’re seeing the ability to decrease infection using these materials.”
These developments, he said, were helping patients in the here and now.
“What we’re using with this is the same materials that we are implanting today — so titanium for hip implants, polyvinyl chloride for catheters, silicone for breast implants.”
“We’re doing a lot of work with putting nanofeatures on materials that could stop cancers from coming back.”