Nano-knife: Nanoshells kill cancer tumors
Nanoshells, tiny metallic spheres with silica cores, can kill cancer cells with perfect efficiency, Dr. Naomi Halas told a packed house at the Illinois Institute of Technology on Friday.
In her titled talk, "When Plasmons Interact, Worlds Collide," Dr. Halas revealed the results of experiments in which gold nanoshells were injected into mice with cancerous tumors. The nanoshells collected in the tumors due to the permeability of the tumor tissue. When intense infrared light was shone on the tumors, the nanoshells converted the light to heat–enough heat to kill the cancer cells in the tumors.
Ten days later, the tumors were gone. Mice in a control group were not so fortunate–they were all dead within ten days. 60 days after the experiments, the treated mice were completely cancer-free.
"This method is completely non-invasive," said Dr. Halas. "There would be essentially no side effects." Dr. Halas' group is now filing for initial clinical human trials of the technology, and human testing could begin within 7 months. (photo Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Each day we hear “this can do that and this and that” but what is the actual progress. You have 200 things that can kill caner/aids etc but only 10-20 are actually being made(completed) and 1-2 maybe accessible on the market. Which one is low-cost and available for the common man ?
May 14th, 2007 at 4:41 amIs this method efficient in advanced cancer stages ?
August 15th, 2007 at 10:45 amI find it hard to believe because I know how cancer looks like. Fighting this disease is really difficult, we all know that. I am glad to see the cancerous tumors are gone with nanoshells but how do I have the certainty that cancer is gone forever?
October 1st, 2007 at 5:31 amVery interested in this technology, could be biggest health issue since penicillan
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September 25th, 2009 at 10:49 am