New Delhi, Jul 20 (UNI) In a significant step forward toward the creation of effective non-invasive procedures in the discovery and treatment of cancer, scientists have come up with a unique way of using silicon nanoparticles for diagnostics purposes in oncological treatment.
Russian scientists from Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, G G Devyatykh Institute of Chemistry of High-Purity Substances of the Russian Academy together with their European colleagues have come up with the unique way.
When coated with a special type of polymer, such as polyethylene glycol, silicon nanoparticles can be injected into a patient. There, they freely circulate inside the bloodstream, accumulating in a potential tumour area, sometimes with the help of special subcellular organ-selective 'address molecules' which similarly accumulate around the cancerous area.