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Tuesday, 29th September 2009 (3419 views)

Gold nanoparticles have been used by scientists in Canada to improve cellular targeting and sensitivity to ionising radiation in prostate cancer cells.

Writing on Uro Today, Dr Wilson Roa of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Alberta's Cross Cancer Institute said a team of researchers had used glucose-capped gold nanoparticles on human prostate cancer cells resistant to radiation.

They found that with two Gy of orthovoltage irradiation, the nanoparticles enhanced growth inhibition of the cells by between 1.5 and two times compared to using x-rays alone.

Dr Roa said glucose-capped gold nanoparticles were also found to trigger activation of the CDK kinases, which led to cell cycle acceleration and accumulation.

Crucially, this activation was accompanied by a "striking sensitisation" to ionising radiation, which Dr Roa noted could have clinical implications for cancer treatment.

Gold nanoparticles have been used in a variety of experiments to advance cancer therapy.

Research by Professor Romain Quidant of the Institute of Photonic Sciences has suggested that gold nanoparticles inside the body could be heated by lasers to burn out cancerous cells while leaving healthy tissue unharmed.

Meanwhile, a team at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has developed an "electronic nose" that uses gold nanoparticles to detect biomarkers for lung cancer in a breath sample.

 

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