Studies have grown over the past 10 years in the area of nanotechnology with regards to cancer detection and extraction. What particle is turning up to be a huge proponent of detecting breast cancer? GOLD! In 2007 scientists at Purdue University told of their use of gold nanoparticals to form Nanorods that use special antibodies to connect with the protein exteriors of cancer cells. Once the protein and nanorods cling within a blood sample, a light scatter test is performed in which the distinctive way the light scatters gives reference to a specific type of cancer cell. So in a quick summery of that information, a formation of gold is proving to be useful in the detection of cancer (many kinds).
The particles of gold are so small that it would take “500 of them to span the width of a human hair.” These types of studies and the use of gold where not new concepts before 2007 and the scientists at Perdue specifically used the rods capable of attaching themselves to three types of breast cancer. The study also found two different markers that allowed the scientist to see how invasive the cancer was. It is obvious that if all you needed was a blood test to be done every so often to see if you had breast cancer, that I am almost positive the survival rate for this disease would sky-rocket! The price for these types of procedures would be drastically reduced and it would help to determine cancer much earlier. The process is often much less invasive as well. Only calling for a simple blood sample or two instead of a biopsy and also the equipment is much less expensive.
Besides being able to detect the cancers earlier, studies are showing that lasers can be used to heat gold nanoparticles in a way that could destroy cancer cells more effectively. Or many speculate that gold could also be used within drug doses as a type of “delivery” system. But let’s go back to gold being used to eliminate cancer cells. Gold has a characteristic that makes it a prime candidate for cancer cell elimination, that trait is its ability to become hot very quickly when radiated with light. Scientists have discovered that the gold becomes so hot that is produces micro bubbles that are able to reach out to cancer cells near them and eliminate them (process known as the photothermal effect). As of May 2010 it is said that scientist are have developed a way of creating “supramolecular assemblies” (that can be researched further otherwise this blog would be much too long!). This all means that they have figured out a way to optimize the delivery of the heated gold to the tumors.
So here could be the reason to better preserve our gold supply! We are only given a finite supply of minerals and metals (here on earth) and to extract off that could only lead to gold becoming more precious and therefore much more EXPENSIVE! Who knows, a few years from now we all could be retiring our walking shoes and handing over our designer earrings to cure cancer in those that we love.
Here is the online site for the original paper and research available though their publishing. Also the website of the National Cancer Institute in which all of my information was derived from:
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