Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Novel Antidote to Liver Cancer

A US-based research team has designed a protocell that can ferry a drug cocktail to kill tenacious drug-resistant liver cancer cells. The protocell has been tagged with peptide to specifically target liver cancer cells.

The protocell showed 10,000-fold greater affinity for cancer cells than normal liver cells and immune cells. The researchers say that protocells can be loaded with combinations of therapeutic (drugs, small interfering RNA and toxins) and diagnostic (quantum dots) agents.

The protocell is actually porous nanoparticle-supported lipid bilayers exhibiting combined properties of liposomes and nanoporous particles. This new avenue to treat liver cancer will shun the need of conventional chemotherapy that usually unleashes side effects. The study has been published in the 17 April 2011 online issue of Nature Materials.

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