Good as gold

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (

) believe that tiny gold particles could target and destroy tumours in a patient’s body with minimal side effects.

Such particles, known as gold nanorods, would absorb energy from near-infrared light and emit it as heat to destroy the tumours.

The nanorods could diagnose as well as treat tumours, according to MIT graduate student Geoffrey von Maltzahn, who developed the tumour-targeting particles with Sangeeta Bhatia, professor in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology (HST) division.

Cancer is expected to affect up to 15 million people by 2020. Currently, most patients are treated with chemotherapy or radiotherapy, which are often effective but can have debilitating side effects because it is difficult to preciscely target tumour tissue.

With chemotherapy treatment, 99 per cent of drugs administered do not typically reach the tumour, said von Maltzahn. In contrast, the gold nanorods can specifically focus heat on tumours.

‘This class of particles provides the most efficient method of specifically depositing energy in tumours,’ he said.