Wednesday, 8th November 2006 (4815 views)

The US government is to hand over $3.8 million to fund further research into early cancer detection using gold nanotechnology.

Gold nanoparticles have so far proven extremely useful in hunting down cancerous cells in the body in order to allow for faster detection and more successful removal of tumours.

They attach themselves to cancerous cells and make them glow, allowing doctors and surgeons to quickly see exactly where these cells are present in the body.

"This technique is very simple and inexpensive to use," said Mostafa El-Sayed, director of the laser dynamics laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "We think it holds great promise in making cancer detection easier, faster and less expensive."

The $3.8 million grant awarded to Fairway Medical Technologies will go towards funding additional research into the detection of breast and prostate using a laser optoacoustic imaging technology.

Fairway is hoping to prove that optoacoustic imaging can locate tumours tagged with gold nanorods bound to antibodies against cancer-specific receptors.

Fairway president Jim Meador said: "Our research under this grant will go a long way toward determining whether the gold nanorods will be beneficial in tagging the tumours in reducing cancer mortality by providing sensitive, inexpensive, convenient and safe molecular-specific technology for cancer therapy."

 

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