Smart nanoparticles developed to help combat cancer

An intelligent new type of nanoparticle has been developed by researchers with the potential to selectively target and destroy cancer cells.

The self-regulating nanoparticles have been created by the University of Surrey and China's Dalian University of Technology. These Zn-Co-Cr ferrite particles are able to increase their temperature to 45 degrees C, at which point they will automatically stop heating.

This makes them ideally suited for use in hyperthermic-thermotherapy – a treatment approach that uses heat to kill off cancer cells – as their self-regulating nature will prevent them from doing damage to non-cancerous tissue.

In addition to circumventing the need for temperature monitoring and controlling systems, the nanoparticles are low in toxicity and unlikely to cause permanent damage to the body.

Professor Ravi Silva, head of the Advanced Technology Institute at the University of Surrey, said: "If we can keep cancer treatments at a temperature level high enough to kill the cancer, while low enough to stop harming healthy tissue, it will prevent some of the serious side effects of vital treatment."

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