Zee Media Bureau
London: Here is some good news for cancer patients as scientists at Cornell University have developed nanoparticles which have the power to demolish tumour cells present in the blood stream thereby further preventing spread of cancer.
The researchers believe that when the tumour cells start spreading inside the whole body, it is considered as a fatal stage.
Now, to tackle this problem, the scientists team at Cornell developed cancer-killing 'sticky balls' called Trail, which has already been used in cancer trials, and other sticky proteins to tiny spheres or nanoparticles which can destroy tumour cells in the blood when injected as they latched on to white blood cells.
Tests showed that in the rough and tumble of the bloodstream, the white blood cells would bump into any tumour cells which had broken off the main tumour and were trying to spread.
The research showed the resulting contact with the Trail protein then triggered the death of the tumour cells.
The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
(With Agency inputs)
