Scientists have developed a new method to track tumours using quantum dots — tiny particles that emit intense fluorescent signals when exposed to light — an advance that may help treat cancer.
Researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in the US developed a proof-of-concept nanosystem that dramatically improves the visualisation of tumours.
The platform achieves a five-fold increase over existing tumour-specific optical imaging methods, researchers said. The novel approach generates bright tumour signals by delivering ‘quantum dots’ to cancer cells without any toxic effects. The method utilises quantum dots (QDs) particles that emit intense fluorescent signals when exposed to light and an ‘etchant’ that eliminates background signals.
The QDs are delivered intravenously, and some of them leave the bloodstream and cross membranes, entering cancer cells. Fluorescent signals emitted from excess QDs that remain in the bloodstream are then made invisible by injecting the etchant.