A research team at Taipei Medical University said it has discovered a new way to detect the effectiveness of nanoparticle therapeutics for cancer treatment.
Many scientists are focused on developing nanoparticle-based medicines for cancer treatment, but are unable to detect whether the drug localizes the tumor intact as expected, or if it harms adjacent tissue, the university said.
University president Yun Yen (閻雲) has collaborated with California Institute of Technology professor Mark Davis since 2007 to develop a method to detect the localization of nanoparticles, the university said.
Yen said scientists have tried using fluorescent staining or electron microscopy at high magnification to detect the nanoparticles after the drug has been administered, but results were unfavorable.
However, by using the fluoresce feature of the drug and repeated confocal laser scanning, the team developed a way to detect the drug in tissue biopsies from cancer patients, he said.
Yen said they have been trying to develop a way to trace nanoparticle drugs for many years and still cannot detect how much of the drug has localized in the tumor tissue, but using the new method they discovered that sufficient concentrations of the drug reach tumors with only a small amount transferring to adjacent tissues.
The research is expected to help predict the efficacy of nanoparticle drugs for cancer treatment, control dosage and reduce the risk of harm to adjacent tissue, he said.
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