Scientists may have found a method of killing cancer stem cells--those stem cells that it is believed make many cancers resistant to other forms of therapy.
A team from Wake Forest University, publishing their work in Biomaterials are claiming that they have been able to kill cancer stem cells in notoriously tough-to-treat triple negative breast cancer by using nanoparticle-mediated photothermal therapy.
High levels of heat are created locally by carbon nanotubes subjected to laser light, and the heat levels proved high enough to kill the breast cancer stem cells as well as the majority of other cancer cells.
This work was done on tumor-bearing mice only, but it did result in complete tumor regression and increased survival, and offers a potential answer to stopping cancer stem cells in future therapy.
Source: GEN: Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
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