Gold nanorods can detect and treat cancer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 6 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists say they have developed gold nanorods that can attach to tumors and then absorb near infrared light energy to kill the cancers.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers said the tiny gold particles could also diagnose, as well as treat tumors.

MIT graduate student Geoffrey von Maltzahn and Professor Sangeeta Bhatia, who together developed the nanorods, said most cancer patients are now treated with chemotherapy and-or radiation, which are often effective, but can have debilitating side effects.

With chemotherapy treatment, 99 percent of drugs administered typically don't reach the tumor, von Maltzahn said. In contrast, the gold nanorods can specifically focus heat on tumors with minimal side effects.

"This class of particles provides the most efficient method of specifically depositing energy in tumors," he said.

The research is detailed in papers recently published in the journals Cancer Research and Advanced Materials.