Gold Nanoparticle Therapy to be used in first clinical trial

Like most of us, you have probably never heard of gold nanoparticle therapy. That’s not surprising. It's a new treatment that will be used for the first time in a cancer clinical to treat lung cancer. The process was invented by biomedical engineers, Naomi Halas and Jennifer West, at Rice University in Houston, Texas. The trial will be conducted by Cancer Treatment Centers of America.

When these nanoparticles were first tested in mice, the result was tumor remission in 100 percent of the experimental subjects.

The nanoparticles consist of microscopic balls of silica (glass) encased in a thin shell of gold. These nanoparticles are injected into the blood stream and absorbed by tumors—not healthy tissue.

After 12 to 24 hours, when the particles have been absorbed by the tumor, an infrared laser is used to heat the particles and destroy the tumor cell. Tumors are damaged or destroyed with minimal effect on healthy tissues.

The trial, approved by the FDA, will be conducted by Mark Lund, MD, Director of Interventional Pulmonology, Bronchoscopy & ICU at Eastern Regional Medical Center. Additional trials are planned for metastatic head and neck tumors and prostate cancer.

Successful results from these trials could provide new and minimally invasive treatment for some common cancers.

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(c) 2012 Tom Beer and Larry Axmaker