Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

When many read the words “Nano technology,” images straight from science fiction fill their heads.  However, scientists propose that so-called “Nanobubbles” may offer an effective method for helping patients battle mesothelioma. 

Researchers from Rice University, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Baylor College of Medicine have proposed that these nanobubbles may be an effective way to deliver cancer-killing chemotherapy directly into the heart of drug-resistant cancer cells. 

What Are Nanobubbles?

Nanobubbles are essentially “holes” in the cell wall of a cancer cell.  Researchers have discovered that if they target gold-tagged nanoparticles with a cancerous cell, they can create these gaps in the cell’s outer wall- gaps that they are hoping will provide an avenue for chemical warfare.  In addition, this type of treatment may help limit the side effects of chemotherapy by more effectively targeting damaged cells as opposed to healthy ones.  While the gold does attach to normal cells, researchers state that it latches on to cancer cells in much higher concentrations.  This means that as the laser light is applied, cancerous cells will absorb the brunt of the attack while healthy cells will be less affected. 

This damage to the cell wall, or membrane, is essential in effectively delivering cancer-fighters on target.  Mesothelioma especially is notoriously drug-resistant.  Doctors have a difficult time getting these asbestos cancer-killing agents into the malignant mesothelial cells simply because the cell’s “hide” is too tough to penetrate.  However, these nanobubbles will function as a sort of open pathway through which chemotherapy drugs may be easily transported. 

How Effective is this New Chemotherapy Delivery System?

Researchers were thrilled to discover that by delivering these drugs right on target inside the damaged cell wall that could improve the drug’s effectiveness by 30 times.  This means that those diagnosed with mesothelioma who choose to undergo nanobubble treatment would only need to be administered doses one-tenth the size of a traditional chemo dose.

As any asbestos cancer patient can attest, may times the side effects of chemotherapy are worse than the symptoms of mesothelioma itself.  By limiting the amount of toxins delivered inside the body, mesothelioma doctors can significantly increase the quality of life while decreasing the discomfort of mesothelioma patients.

The study only focused on certain cancers but successful results could easily be applied to attack various other diseases as well. 

The researchers are quick to caution that these results are only preliminary but they represent a significant new avenue for treatment of previously untreatable diseases. 

This line of chemotherapy assist is similar to an approach that Duke University researchers propose using “transporter” molecules to bypass a cancer cell’s walls.  If either of these lines of experimentation provides positive results, they could radically change the way mesothelioma and other hard-to-kill cancers are fought.