Nanotubes can be used to ‘cook’ tumor cells

Medical Tribune August 2008 P3

Cancer cells can be killed using nanotechnology to deliver a highly specific heat source, a study has shown.

Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, US, coupled single-walled carbon nanotubes to monoclonal antibodies and targeted these to lymphoma cells in vitro. Exposure to near-infrared light caused the nanotubes to emit heat, thereby ablating the tumor cells while leaving other cells unaffected.

Describing the specificity of the technique as “excellent”, the researchers conclude that the next step is to evaluate the use of these nanotube-antibody constructs in vitro.

[Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2008 Jun 24;105(25):8697-702]