New Delhi, Oct 24
Researchers have developed microscopic metal particles that can kill cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue, offering a potential new direction for more targeted and less toxic cancer treatments.
The study by the team from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia remains at the cell-culture stage and has not been tested in animals or humans, news agency reported.
However, it suggests a new strategy for designing cancer treatments that exploits cancer's own weaknesses.
The international team led by RMIT researchers created tiny particles, known as nanodots, from molybdenum oxide -- a compound based on a rare metal called molybdenum. It is often used in electronics and alloys.
By tweaking their chemical composition, the scientists enabled the particles to release reactive oxygen molecules -- unstable forms of oxygen that damage cancer cells and trigger their self-destruction.