Cancerous tumours could be shot down with golden ‘bullets’

TINY golden “bullets” could eventually be used to target and destroy cancerous tumours while leaving healthy tissue unharmed, scientists claimed yesterday.

Using nanotechnology (the science of building new materials and devices atom by atom), US researchers conducted experiments on breast cancer cells and in mice to target cancers.

The team, led by Jennifer West at Rice University in Houston, claimed their technique could in the future be used to treat tumours which have been hard to target until now.

The most common treatment for solid tumours is surgery to remove the cancerous tissue. However, sometimes this is not possible because the cancer is small, poorly defined or embedded in vital surrounding tissue.

There are other therapies to battle these inoperable tumours, such as radiotherapy, but these can also kill healthy tissue as well as the cancer.

To try to avoid this, the researchers used nanoshells (tiny particles of silica coated with gold) to apply heat to tumours and destroy them using near-infrared light, a type of low-energy radiation.

In one experiment they incubated cultured human breast cancer cells in the lab in a solution containing nanoshells. They then exposed the incubated cells and a group of control cells to a near-infrared source.

The incubated cells showed signs of irreversible heat damage and cell death, while the control cells were undamaged.

In another test, mice with tumours were injected with nanoshells and exposed to low doses of near-infrared light.

Within four to six minutes the temperatures inside the tumours were high enough to damage cells, killing the tumours, but leaving the surrounding tissue unharmed. With further research, the scientists said the technique could have a “large impact” on the treatment of tumours “considered to be otherwise inoperable”.

The research was reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that eating the right type of breakfast may be the key to tackling the increasing problem of obesity in children.

A study of British youngsters aged nine to 12 looked at the effect of different foods on their hunger levels during the day.

The children were given meals measured using the Glycemic Index (GI), which compares the rise in blood glucose levels after eating different foods.

The researchers, from Oxford Brookes University, found that the children who had a low-GI breakfast had a “significantly lower lunch intake” compared who those who had a high-GI meal.

It is hoped the research could be used to help dieticians prescribe the most effective diet to help combat childhood obesity so that they eat foods that release sugar steadily across the day rather than “quick fix” snacks.