Grant finances study of gold-assisted laser radiation.

2003 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A biomedical engineer and director of laser research at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is trying to find a safe and efficient way to target cancerous cells using flecks of gold that are only nanometers wide. It could set a new standard for breast cancer therapy.

Dr. Vladimir Zharov was awarded a $106,500 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program to study the treatment concept.

The concept is still unproven, but preliminary tests have shown the gold nanoparticles could interact with laser radiation to destroy only the targeted cells, without collateral damage to healthy cells, Zharov said.

Several teams of researchers around the world are looking at similar concepts. Gerald Diebold, professor of chemistry at Brown University, said chemists and medical researchers are scrambling to find ways to improve on the current X-ray and ultrasound technology used to diagnose tumors.

"A mammogram is a mess of lines. ... It's so hard to see any gradations until the tumor is already metastasized," he said. "But we've known about gold's absorption for a long time and I think we're making very nice progress."

Once attached to tumor cells, the gold absorbs laser light far more thoroughly than anything else, which makes it ideal for diagnostic imaging of small, hard-to-detect tumors. And the laser's destructive power also could be harnessed to attack cells with gold marks on them without cutting into the breast.

Alexander Oraevsky of Fairway Medical Technologies in Houston, Texas, who patented an elongated gold particle that appears to absorb laser light best, said scientists are still years away from figuring out the best way to deliver the gold markings to tiny clusters of tumor cells without hurting a patient.