Nanoparticles offer ovarian cancer treatment approach

Magnetic nanoparticles have been used to ‘drag' cancer cells out of the bodies of mice. Scientists at Georgia Tech coated the nanoparticles with a targeting molecule that caused them to bond to the cancer cells. And the researchers say the approach could be used to treat metastatic ovarian cancer. During metastasis, the cancer cells drift in the abdominal area, offering a target for the nanoparticles. They believe that a patient's abdominal fluid could be drained, cancer cells filtered out, and then infused back into the abdominal cavity.

"It's possible that the particles may not ever have to go into the patient's body," says John McDonald, the chief scientific officer of the Ovarian Cancer Institute at Georgia Tech. "That would be preferable, because then you don't have to worry about any potential toxicity."

- read the story from MIT Technology Review

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