Quadrapeutics combines lasers, X-rays, gold nanoparticles, and chemo drugs to kill aggressive cancers.

Quadrapeutics combines lasers, X-rays, gold nanoparticles, and chemo drugs to kill aggressive cancers.
 Researchers at Rice University have developed an approach that combines all four technologies to effectively kill aggressive cancer cells by literally exploding them. They dubbed the technology quadrapeutics, which significantly amplifies the killing effect of anti-cancer drugs and chemo, but only in cancer cells.

The technique harnesses plasmonic nanobubbles, tiny droplets of vapor that form around plasmonic gold nanoparticles, which can then pop and try to destroy the cell from within. If it doesn’t, the explosion causes the delivered drug to be spread through the cells and the effect of the chemotherapy also becomes more pronounced. The three modes of action combine to be effective even against aggressive tumors.

Paper:
http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v20/n7/full/nm.3484.html

Article:
http://www.medgadget.com/2014/06/quadrapeutics-combines-lasers-x-rays-gold-nanoparticles-and-chemo-drugs-to-kill-aggressive-cancers.html

#cancer   #nanotechnology   #quadrapeutics   #research