Mar 14, 2012 | |
Fighting cancer with nanotechnology - a roundtable discussion |
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(Nanowerk News) Imagine a test that sifts through millions of molecules in a drop of a patient's blood to detect a telltale protein signature of a cancer subtype, or a drug ferry that doesn't release its toxic contents until it slips inside cancer cells. | |
These and other nanotechnologies could be game changers in how we diagnose, monitor and treat cancer. To more fully understand the impact, The Kavli Foundation held a roundtable teleconference with four pioneers in the field. | |
![]() Above (clockwise from top left): Anna Barker, Mark E. Davis, Michael Phelps, James Heath. Another promising technology is PET molecular imaging probes, which can rapidly search for cancer throughout all tissues of the body, as well as characterize each cancer lesion it detects within an individual patient. "All cancer treatments are in need of better molecular diagnostics... to better characterize the biology of cancer," said Phelps. These technologies add a layer of precision, insight and invention to cancer treatment that can be transformative. Said Heath, "Nanotechnology is an amazing discovery tool ...giving us a new set of eyes that are opening up a whole new world." Regarding the future, he added, "All evidence suggests that when you do careful engineering of these nanotechnologies, the benefits are great." Barker agreed. "The nanotechnologies that are currently in use in the cancer community are actually making cancer therapies safer. They are uniformly increasing the efficiency, while reducing the toxicity for patients." For the complete dialogue, visit: http://www.kavlifoundation.org/science-spotlights/nanoscience-fighting-cancer-nanotechnology |
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Source: Kavli Foundation |