Tiny polonium ‘missiles’ to seek out and destroy cancer cells

TINY nuclear ‘missiles’ containing the same kind of radiation used to murder Russian exile Alexander Litvinenko are being developed to destroy cancer, it was revealed yesterday.

Scientists have found a way to package deadly alpha particles inside DNA-sized tubes of carbon.

Alpha radiation consists of massive and slow moving subatomic particles 4,000 times heavier than the electrons that make up the beta emissions often used to treat cancer.

It takes a direct hit from just one alpha particle to destroy a lone cancer cell, compared with thousands of beta particles, said Professor Lon Wilson, from Rice University in Houston, Texas.

Litvinenko died because the alpha particles in his body wiped out the cells of his immune system.

However, Prof Wilson’s team is working on a way to turn the particles into a safe weapon against cancer.

The researchers have successfully loaded another alpha emitter, astatine, into microscopic hollow structures called carbon nanotubes.

In previous work they had already discovered how to attach antibodies to nanotubes. Antibodies, produced by the immune system, recognise and latch onto specific proteins and can be used to target cancer.

The scientists hope to combine the technologies to produce homing nuclear missiles that can seek out and destroy cancer cells.

The research, partly funded by the American space agency NASA, is reported in a forthcoming issue of the nanotechnology journal Small.

Henry Scowcroft, senior information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: “If they end up inside the body, alpha-particle emitters are amongst nature’s most potent radioactive materials.

“Although they have the potential to kill cancer cells, they would need to be extremely well-targeted to the tumour, as they can also damage healthy tissue.

“Any cancer therapy based on internal exposure to an alpha-emitter would have to undergo rigorous safety testing before it could ever be approved for routine use.”