The Spread of Cancer Can Now Be Monitored by Using Tiny Implants

Researchers in America have discovered that the spread of cancer and the effect of anti-cancer drugs to help fight it can now be monitored by using tiny implants. They are working on ways to use microscopic particles which are able to stick to chemicals in cancer cells and show up during scans.

The researchers' latest advance is now to try and find a way of keeping a supply of these particles inside the body for longer periods of time. But, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) technique has not been carried out on human patients. Doctors are finding it difficult to work out the right dose of a cancer drug, or whether it is working properly. Currently, conventional scans and blood tests do not reveal how much of a drug is actually reaching the inside of a tumour.

The aim of the MIT project is to help doctors by providing more information about conditions that exist inside clusters of cancer cells. Researchers are using microscopic nanoparticles that are made out of iron oxide and coated with a type of sugar called dextran. Then the surface of the tiny particles is coated with antibodies, which are immune system components which can be designed to attach themselves to molecules that are found inside cancer cells. This means that when the target molecules are present, the particles will then clump together, making them easier to detect when performing an MRI scan on a patient.

A tiny silicon container holds the iron oxide nanoparticles, which allows the chemical reaction to take place without the nanoparticles quickly dispersing from the tumour. This helps doctors have a longer-term and more detailed view of the conditions within the cancer cells.

Grace Kim, who is involved in this project said: "When you're cooking a turkey, you can take the temperature with a thermometer - but with something like this, you can not only find out the temperature, but the moisture, saltiness and whether there's enough rosemary."

The researchers plan on carrying out further laboratory tests before this technique is deemed safe enough to try it out on humans. They hope that the particles can be made to clump together by human chorionic gondotrophin, which is a hormone that is produced by some cancers, but not normally by healthy people, unless they are pregnant.

Professor John Troy, medical director for Cancer Research UK said:"It would be extremely helpful to know at the start of treatment that anti-cancer drugs are indeed reaching their target or, if not, that other treatment is required. If it were possible to monitor intimately the response of cancer cells to treatment, this would offer valuable detailed information on the effectiveness of treatment. But, of course, there are millions of cancer cells in tumours and technology has a long, long way to travel yet before it can offer these desirable attributes."

This is indeed a great discovery in the medical field. But, as Professor Troy stated, technology still has a long way to go before it can benefit cancer patients.

Source:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6486091.stm