Smart nanoparticles light up brain cancer and destroy what surgery misses
This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.
Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney, Harvard, and Henan universities developed a dual-function nanozyme platform that images glioblastoma during surgery and then destroys residual cancer cells with phototherapy. The system uses near-infrared light to activate both functions, targeting tumor clusters as small as 44 micrometers. The findings were published in Science Translational Medicine.
Key Facts
- The five-year survival rate for glioblastoma is about 7 percent.
- The nanozyme platform can image tumor cell clusters as small as 44 micrometers.
- The system uses a two-dimensional sheet with individual atoms placed one at a time, adapted from semiconductor manufacturing.
- Platinum atoms in the material convert hydrogen peroxide into oxygen to counteract the low-oxygen environment that shields cancer cells.
- The findings were published in Science Translational Medicine.
Dual-Function Nanozyme Platform
Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney, Harvard, and Henan universities developed a 'double-punch' nanozyme platform that combines imaging and phototherapy in a single system. The system is built around an extremely thin, two-dimensional sheet covered with individual atoms placed one at a time using a method adapted from semiconductor manufacturing. This structure allows the material to switch between two roles: imaging cancer during surgery and performing phototherapy after the operation. Both functions are activated using the same near-infrared light.
Intraoperative Imaging
During surgery, the material functions as a highly sensitive imaging agent. A fluorescent dye engineered onto the sheet glows under a near-infrared wavelength invisible to the naked eye, allowing surgeons to see individual tumor cell clusters as small as 44 micrometers. This resolution exceeds current clinical imaging tools. A targeting molecule attached to the material helps it cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate specifically in glioma cells.
Postoperative Phototherapy
After the visible tumor is removed, the same material is administered into the surgical cavity and reactivated with the same wavelength of light for postoperative phototherapy. The platinum atoms convert the tumor's own hydrogen peroxide into oxygen, counteracting the low-oxygen environment that normally shields cancer cells from treatment. Simultaneously, the light generates heat and reactive molecules that destroy microscopic cancer cells that surgery could not reach. This approach targets microscopic cancer cells that can remain in the brain after visible tumor removal and later fuel recurrence.
1 source
Smart nanoparticles light up brain cancer and destroy what surgery misses
