August 15, 2009 | Health & Medicine, Recent Studies, Technology
Nanotechnology may be the key to a cure for cancer. A group of medical researchers in Australia have developed the ‘Trojan Horse’ technique that disarms and destroys cancer cells without harming healthy cells. This could revolutionize the treatment of cancer.
The ‘Trojan Horse’ is a nanoparticle that is able to seek out and penetrate only diseased cells, leaving the healthy cells alone. The first wave of nanoparticles disables the cancer cell’s ability to resist chemotherapy. The second wave of nanoparticles delivers a microscopic dose of chemotherapy within the cell, destroying it without causing any of the damage associated with full-body chemotherapy.
Dr. Jennifer MacDiarmid and Dr. Himanshu Barhmbhatt of EnGenelC Pty Ltd in Sydney announced that they successfully cured 100% of the laboratory mice they treated for cancer using the new technology. By the end of the trial the mice were all cancer-free with no side effects. Human trials are scheduled to begin this fall at the University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Dr. MacDiarmid reported that this technology could dramatically improve the quality of life for cancer patients. “Significantly, our methodology does not damage the normal cells and is applicable to a wide spectrum of solid cancer types. The hope is that the benign nature of this EDV technology should enable cancer sufferers to get on with their lives and operate normally using outpatient therapy.”
Source
