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Thursday, 13th September 2007 (4526 views)

Researchers at Rice University have found a new way to deliver cancer drugs using a ball of gold barely wider than one strand of DNA.

Chemists at the institution have found a way to load molecules of anti-cancer drug paclitaxel onto tiny gold spheres.

Lead researcher Eugene Zubarev explained that the research attempted to bypass the "major hurdles" faced by previous attempts to deliver paclitaxel, which works by attaching itself to microtubules inside cancer cells, preventing their division and slowing the growth of tumours.

The drug is used to treat breast and ovarian cancers, among other forms of the disease.

"We looked for an approach that would clear the major hurdles people have encountered - solubility, drug efficacy, bioavailability and uniform dispersion - and our initial results look very promising," said Mr Zubarev.

He added that follow-up studies were being worked on to determine how potent the paclitaxel-loaded gold nanoparticles are.

Charity Breast Cancer Care has stated that more than 12,500 deaths in the UK are caused by breast cancer every year, while ovarian cancer causes 4,400 deaths annually, according to Cancer Research UK.

 

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