And they caught cancer…

Scientists have caught cancer cells using nanoparticlesMembrane
An unusual technique of selective removal of cancer cells from the fluid of the abdominal cavity was tested by innovators from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).

The authors of the new work have come up with a way to prevent metastases in ovarian cancer. With such a disease, malignant cells often penetrate into the abdominal cavity, from where they spread to other tissues, significantly complicating treatment and worsening the prognosis for the patient. The Americans considered that for the success of therapy it is necessary to filter out all cancer cells from the ascitic fluid.

Previous studies have identified the EphA2 receptor protein, which serves as an effective marker of free-floating ovarian cancer cells. Now scientists have taken magnetic cobalt-iron oxide nanoparticles and coated them with a synthetic analogue of the peptide ephrin-A1, which has a great affinity for EphA2.

According to the developers, an army of such particles can be released into the fluid of the abdominal cavity, where they will automatically detect and capture cancer cells. Then the nanoparticles, and with them the malignant cells, can be removed using a magnet.

The scientists tested this process in a test tube using ascitic fluid from four patients with ovarian cancer. According to a press release from the American National Cancer Institute (Magnetic Nanoparticles Remove Ovarian Cancer Cells from the Abdominal Cavity), the experimenters successfully removed all cells with the EphA2 marker from the liquid. In clinics, such cleaning could be performed by a minimally invasive method, akin to dialysis.

The details of the experiment are revealed in an article in the journal Nanomedicine (Kenneth E. Scarberry et al., Selective removal of ovarian cancer cells from human ascites fluid using magnetic nanoparticles).

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru22.07.2010