From the invisible to the visible world and back...

Gold Nanoparticles in Chemotherapy

This technique is used to cancer treatments using colloidal gold, a colloidal suspension of submicrometre-size nanoparticles of gold in fluids, like water. It could also be use for arthritis treatment as well. 

Colloidal gold can be use to target tumors and provide detection using SERS (Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy), this means the technique may detect single molecules involved in the tumor growth. To specifically target tumors cells the gold particles bond an antibody against, for example, epidermal growth factor receptors, then, this antibody bonds the growth factor receptors making gold particles accumulate in tumors due to the leakiness of tumor vasculature. The acumulation of gold particles can be used as contrast agents for enhanced imaging in a optical tomography system using short pulse lasers for skin cancer detection (or another one).

Therefore gold particles have the potential to join numerous therapeutic functions by targeting specific tumors cells, tissues and organs.

Although this technique is relatively new and promising, there some topics to worry about, like toxic precursors, toxicity in vivo and in vitro and the drug delivery system.

I wanted to share this technique because is an amazing tool against the cancer and could provide better strategies to shrink or destroy tumors cells, besides as it provides specific target, the normal tissue may not be harm, affected or deteriorated because of the chemotherapy which means that the patient, in the worse of cases, could last for more years and have a better life during the treatment or why not? Defeat the cancer!