SYDNEY, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Researchers have developed light-activated nanoparticles that could help surgeons see and remove glioblastoma -- the deadliest form of brain cancer -- more precisely and destroy cancer cells left behind after surgery.
Researchers from Australia's University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Harvard University in the United States and Henan University in China, have discovered a "double-punch" nanozyme platform designed to address both problems with a single tool of smart nanoparticles, according to a UTS statement released on Thursday.
"It's a meaningful step towards reducing recurrence, which remains one of the biggest challenges for people with glioblastoma," said Shi Bingyang, chair professor of nanomedicine at UTS. He described the platform as "a precise guide for the surgeon during the operation, and then a targeted clean-up treatment afterwards."
Glioblastoma is difficult to treat because tumor cells infiltrate the surrounding brain tissue, making complete surgical removal challenging without damaging healthy tissue. The disease also resists treatment because the blood-brain barrier limits the delivery of many drugs and radiotherapy, researchers said, adding the five-year survival rate is only about 7 percent.
The platform uses an ultrathin, atomically engineered sheet that enables both tumor imaging during surgery and phototherapy afterwards using the same near-infrared light, according to the study published in Science Translational Medicine.
During surgery, a fluorescent dye enables surgeons to identify tumor cell clusters as small as 44 micrometers, while a targeting molecule helps the particles cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in glioma cells, Shi said, adding that after surgery, the same nanoparticles are reactivated to destroy remaining cancer cells.
After successful testing in mouse models, he said further studies will be needed to confirm its imaging and therapeutic performance in the human brain. ■