Self Assembled Drug Bearing Nano-rods Used to Treat Tumors

     

           Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have created a self-assembled, multi-functional, responsive gold nano-rod that is able to deliver the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin in response to a near-infrared (NIR) light stimulus.  The NIR light, which is minimally absorbed by skin and tissue, is absorbed by the gold nano-rods, which causes them to release the chemotherapy drug and ablate the tissue as well.  Preclinical models have shown that the self-assembled nano-rods are highly effective at targeting and eradicating the tumor cells while still being able to stay under the radar of the immune system.  The researchers are still running more pre-clinical models before testing the safety and efficacy of the platform in human trials, but the nano-rods show hope for a possible noninvasive way to remove tumors in the near future.

            I found this article interesting because it shows the progress of nano technology and its possible effectiveness in treating cancer.  It makes me wonder if similar nano-rods could be used to ablate plaque and target drugs in the coronary arteries.  I also found the NIR technology very interesting.  It seems like NIR tech could offer a wide range of uses in the future.

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