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Tuesday, 9th May 2006 (6205 views)

A combination of gold nanoparticles and the virus that causes the common cold could change the future of cancer treatment, US researchers believe.

Gold nanoparticles can be used to treat a tumour by absorbing laser energy and heating up to destroy harmful cells, but they must first be brought to the right location, inside the tumour cells, to have an effect.

Viral vectors – viruses such as the cold virus that are altered to prevent them from multiplying – have been used as carriers to deliver corrective genes to cancer cells by 'infecting' the tumour.

A research team at the Gene Therapy Center, Alabama have extended the principle successfully in tests. Even if a viral vector is modified to transfer a therapeutic gene, it has the capacity to carry gold nanoparticles at the same time.

When the virus 'infects' the tumour, it has the potential to deposit two different approaches to treating the cancer: heat-sensitive gold nanoparticles and gene therapy.

The ability of gold nanoparticles to absorb energy and destroy harmful proteins in the brain is also under investigation in Alzheimer's disease research.

 

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