A team of researchers from various European institutes, Universities and a private company, have developed carbon nanocapsules that, once irradiated with neutrons, become able to deliver high radiation to cancer cells and, thus, to destroy the malignant tissue. The ICN2 and the ICMAB participated in this study, which has been recently published on ACS Nano.
An international team formed by researchers from the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) and the ICN2 -- together with other research centres in the United Kingdom (King's College London, Queen Mary University of London), France (CNRS, University of Strasbourg), Greece (University of Ioannina Medical School), Czech Republic (Czech Technical University, J. Heyrovsky Institute of the Physical Chemistry,) and Italy (University of Trieste), and a French company (Cis Bio International), within the framework of the European project RADDEL (Radioactivity Delivery) -- have managed to prepare stable and more effective carbon nanocapsules for radiation therapy to treat cancer. Once irradiated with neutrons, these nanocapsules are activated and achieve levels of radioactivity about 100 times higher than those reached in previous studies, thus they are able to kill the tumour cells with increased efficiency. This study, which has been recently published on ACS Nano, holds the promise of enhancing radiotherapy to fight cancer more effectively.
For more info: NEW! Carbon nanocapsules for radiotherapy against cancer