NYU Abu Dhabi researchers have engineered light-activated nanoparticles that can both find and destroy tumors while sparing healthy tissue. The approach could pave the way for more precise, less harmful cancer treatment.
A team of scientists at NYU Abu Dhabi has developed a light-activated nanotechnology that could one day make cancer treatment more precise and less damaging than chemotherapy, radiation or surgery.
The study, published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, advances a technique known as photothermal therapy, which uses light to generate heat inside tumors and kill cancer cells from within. Instead of flooding the whole body with toxic drugs or blasting large areas with radiation, the method aims to focus treatment where it is needed most.
The researchers designed tiny, biocompatible and biodegradable nanoparticles that carry a special dye activated by near-infrared light. When the particles reach a tumor and are exposed to this light, they heat up, damaging tumor tissue while largely sparing healthy cells.
Near-infrared light was chosen because it can penetrate deeper into the body than visible light. That means, in principle, it could reach tumors that are not close to the skin’s surface, expanding the range of cancers that might be treated with this kind of technology.
One of the biggest obstacles to photothermal therapy has been getting light-responsive materials to the right place and keeping them stable inside the body. Many existing agents break down quickly, are cleared from the bloodstream before they reach tumors, or struggle to get inside cancer cells.
To overcome these hurdles, the NYU Abu Dhabi team built its nanoparticles from hydroxyapatite, a mineral that naturally occurs in bones and teeth. Using a familiar, body-friendly material is intended to help the particles break down safely after they have done their job.
The particles are coated with lipids and polymers, which help them circulate longer in the bloodstream and avoid being quickly flagged and removed by the immune system. That extended circulation time increases the chances that more of the therapeutic material will reach tumors.
The design also takes advantage of a well-known feature of many tumors: they tend to be slightly more acidic than healthy tissue. On the surface of each nanoparticle, the researchers attached a peptide, or small protein, that becomes active in this mildly acidic environment. Under those conditions, the peptide helps the nanoparticles enter cancer cells efficiently while largely avoiding normal cells.
In experiments, the team found that the nanoparticles are highly stable and effectively protect their dye cargo from breaking down. The particles accumulated efficiently in tumors, where they could be switched on with near-infrared light.
When activated, the nanoparticles generated localized heat strong enough to destroy tumor tissue. At the same time, they produced fluorescent and thermal signals that allowed tumors to be visualized and the effects of treatment to be monitored in real time.
Senior author Mazin Magzoub, an associate professor of biology at NYU Abu Dhabi, noted the technology is designed to combine several capabilities in one platform.
“This work brings together targeted treatment and imaging in a single, biocompatible and biodegradable system,” he said in a news release.
By integrating diagnosis and therapy, the nanoparticles function as what researchers often call a “theranostic” system: a single tool that can both detect disease and treat it. In practice, that could help doctors see exactly where a tumor is, guide the light-based treatment, and immediately assess whether it is working.
The study also addresses a central challenge in cancer medicine: delivering powerful agents directly to tumors while limiting side effects elsewhere in the body. According to the researchers, their strategy of using a bone-like material, protective coatings and acidity-activated peptides is a step toward that goal.
While this work is still at the experimental stage, the findings highlight the promise of the nanoparticles as an integrated system for cancer diagnosis and therapy. If future studies in animals and, eventually, in humans confirm the early results, the technology could contribute to a new generation of light-based cancer treatments that are safer and more effective than many current options.
More broadly, the research fits into a growing effort worldwide to harness nanotechnology and smart materials to personalize cancer care. Scientists are exploring ways to tailor treatments to each tumor’s biology, reduce collateral damage to healthy tissue and give clinicians better tools to see what is happening inside the body as therapy unfolds.
For patients, the long-term hope is that such advances will translate into treatments that are not only more effective at controlling or eliminating cancer, but also easier to tolerate and more compatible with everyday life.
Source: NYU Abu Dhabi