Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Karnataka state's Bengaluru city have achieved a new breakthrough in cancer research by developing a nanoparticle-based method that can detect and kill lung and cervical cancer cells at an early stage.
A recent study published in ACS Applied Nano Materials reveals that nanoparticles possess potent photothermal, oxidative stress, and photoacoustic properties that greatly enhance the rate of cancer detection.
One of the authors of the study and an assistant professor at the Department of Instrumentation and Applied Physics (IAP) in IIS, Jaya Prakash, said that cancer progress forms a solid tumor mass in the body that can be detected and destroyed with the help of the anti-cancerous properties of hybrid gold and copper sulfide nanoparticles.
The scientists used cancer cells obtained from cell lines to conduct the research and experiments.
The study showed phenomenal results as the nanoparticle-based method was able to not only detect malignant cancer cells but also kill them.
“Along with a good detection rate, the observed cancer-killing rate was about 25 percent,” Prakash said.
The researchers further noted that that nanoparticles could also help diagnose other forms of cancer and possibly eradicate them too.