Researchers at the Rice University, US, have invented a new imaging and treatment method that can both detect and treat the killer disease. According to them, metal ?nanoshells? ? tiny spheres of silica coated with a thin layer of gold ? can catch the optical signal from the bio-markers (molecular indicators on an affected area) of cancer cells and destroy them. With the current molecular imaging process, doctors are able to detect malignant cells, but can?t offer a subsequent treatment through it.

Prof. Rebekah Drezek and Prof. Jennifer West, of the department of bioengineering at Rice, say, ?This two-in-one therapy looks for the cancer cells and makes a rational choice about whether to destroy them or not.?

Nanoshell spheres have been made by electrical engineer Naomi Halas, also from the Rice University. They work on a nanometer scale (1,000,000,000 nanometer=1 meter), the range where molecular interactions take place. They exhibit a unique behaviour ? tunable optical properties ? which allows researchers to design chemically inert and biocompatible gold particles that scatter and absorb light at particular wavelengths produced by the cancer biomarkers.

When nanoshells come in contact with the illuminated markers, they absorb light and use it to generate ample heat for destroying the cancer cells only. It makes destruction of the targeted cells less invasive, because the light passes harmlessly through the normal tissue. In their experiment, the researchers engineered nanoshells and targetted the bio-markers on the surface of the breast cancer cells. They hope that the technique can be utilised to target other types of cancers or diseases as well. Drezek and West are now going for a test involving mouse tumours, which they expect to complete within six months.