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, Xinhua news agency reported.
However, it suggests a new strategy for designing cancer treatments that exploits cancerâs 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.
In tests, the particles killed three times more cervical cancer cells than healthy cells within 24 hours, without the need for light, unusual for technologies that rely on oxidative stress, according to the study.