Tracking Cancer

New research out in American Chemical Society (ACS) Nano suggests the approach to tracking cancers may be on the verge of revolution. Liposomes, tiny fatty envelopes, are often used to package anti-cancer drugs as they tend to congregate around loosely bound tumor cells as a matter of biophysics.

Rafael de Rosales of King’s College, London, and Alberto Gabizon of the Shaare Zedek Medical Centre in Jerusalem have treated mice with liposomes doped with radioactive metal ions and shown the special liposomes congregate around an animals’ tumor. What is special about this finding is that these supped up liposomes are visible by positron-emission tomogoraphy (PET) scanning and therefore assist physicians in following the course of drugs.

This new discovery has the potential to assist physicians in better understanding how to target cancers with missile like efficiency. The Economist published an article on this research originally published by ACS Nano.

We are excited by the progress being made in laboratories around the world to fight cancer. We feel privileged to be able to support institutions in making such remarkable strides in life sciences.