Nanoworms target cancer

Scientists at UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and MIT have developed nanometre-sized 'nanoworms' that can cruise through the bloodstream without significant interference from the body’s immune defense system and - like tiny anti-cancer missiles - home in on tumours.

Using nanoworms, doctors should eventually be able to target and reveal the location of developing tumours that are too small to detect by conventional methods. Carrying payloads targeted to specific features on tumours, these microscopic vehicles could also one day provide the means to more effectively deliver toxic anti-cancer drugs to these tumours in high concentrations without negatively impacting other parts of the body.

'Most nanoparticles are recognised by the body's protective mechanisms, which capture and remove them from the bloodstream within a few minutes,' said Michael Sailor, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UC San Diego who headed the research team.

'The reason these worms work so well is due to a combination of their shape and to a polymer coating on their surfaces that allows them to evade these natural elimination processes.  As a result, our nanoworms can circulate in the body of a mouse for many hours.'