Dual-Purpose Nanoparticles Spot Residual Tumors, Improves Cancer Surgery
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - 05:35
in Health & Medicine
(PhysOrg.com) -- The surest cure for cancer is to remove every last bit of a tumor through surgery. Unfortunately, for most cancers that is also the most difficult approach because of two problems: it is nearly impossible today to spot every last tumor in the body and it is often difficult to determine where a tumor stops and healthy tissue begins. A solution to both of those problems may be at hand in the form of a dual-purpose nanoparticle that penetrates tumor cells and lights them up using either fluorescence imaging or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).