Biotech says nano-device can directly target cancer cells

An Australian biotech company says it has developed a "nano-cell" that can be used to directly deliver drugs to cancer cells. Reporting in Cancer Cell journal, EnGeneIC reports the approach worked in primates and promises to help greatly reduce the amount of cancer therapies needed for treatment, while avoiding many of the harsh side effects that are common to chemotherapy. The nano-cell relies on antibodies to dock on the cancer cell for targeted delivery. Researchers hope to begin human trials later this year.

"For the first time there is a real possibility that this technology could lead to the use of multi-drug combinations and eventual custom-made therapies in cancer patients," research scientist Jennifer MacDiarmid said in a statement. "In terms of tumor therapy, most late-stage cancer patients carry tumor cells that exhibit various forms of drug resistance. Our technology may provide the first in-vivo (inside an organism) solution to this serious hurdle."

- here's the report from Scientific American