Nanotechnology In

Cancer Treatment NICK AKERS

Cancer

Cancer is unregulated cell division that forms a tumor, which kills of

surrounding tissues

Kills roughly 8 million people worldwide

per year

Cancer diagnoses expected to rise

50% by 2030 according to the

National Cancer Institute

https://www.google.com/search?q=cancer&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0 ahUKEwjup83e7ZPXAhVOySYKHU1ADqoQ_AUICygC&biw=1920&bih=949#imgrc=CiKXNbrXluCwIM:

Current Treatments

Chemotherapy, Radiation, and Surgery are most common cures

Do not target the cancer cells very well; healthy cells are killed too

Causes side effects, delays healing

Especially damaging in elderly patients

Cure can be worse than the disease

What is Nanotechnology?

Creation of technology on the scale of nanometers (10^-9)

Incredibly small size allows them to be injected into people

Created for very specific actions

Largely still in research/development phase

Gaining attention as possible cure to cancer

Several types of nanobots for cancer treatment

Focus on Quantum Dots, Nanoshells, DNA Origami Drug Delivery

Quantum Dots – Cancer Detection

Tiny engineered crystals that glow

when subjected to UV light, based

on size

Covered in a special coating

that binds to antigens specific

to cancer cells

Injected into bloodstream

Potentially more accurate and

safer than current systems using

radioactive markers

https://www.google.com/search?q=quantum+dots&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiL _4aF8pPXAhWly4MKHXpVBUYQ_AUICygC&biw=809&bih=924#imgrc=Ch2kAMyaR9QkUM:

https://image.slidesharecdn.com/54unit4cneoplasticdisruptions-alterationsincellfunctiondifferentiationpp-121204070324-phpapp01/95/neoplastic-disruptions-alterations-in-cell-function-differentiation-pp-10-638.jpg?cb=1354604806

http://tpe.nanotechnologie.free.fr/souris_dot.jpg

http://www.indianjcancer.com/viewimage.asp?img=IndianJournalofCancer_2015_52_2_236_175805_f2.jpg

Nanoshells

Form of cancer treatment

Comprised of dielectric silica core with thin gold shell

Based on their radius and shell thickness, engineers can have them resonate at desired wavelengths

Injected into bloodstream – Nanoshells then congregate on tumors

due to enhanced permeability and retention effect and antigen

binding

Specific wavelength applied to patient causes the particles to

resonate, releasing heat, killing adjacent cancer cells

http://www.indianjcancer.com/viewimage.asp?img=IndianJournalofCancer_2015_52_2_236_175805_f2.jpg

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/nl050127s

DNA Origami Method

DNA scaffold built using special

software

Forms a capsule with specific

antigen binding sites

When in contact with a

tumor cell, the DNA capsule

changes shape, releasing

medication stored inside

Like extremely targeted chemotherapy

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/335/6070/831.full

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/335/6070/831.full

Functions as AND gate: both antigen binding site must activate

NKL Cell: Natural Killer

Cells afflicted with

leukemia

Whole blood = healthy

cells

Scatter reveals nanobots

selectively label

cancerous cells while

avoiding healthy ones

0.6% off target

http://science.sciencemag.org/ content/335/6070/831.full

Pros

Potential for targeted attack on

cancer cells (reduced damage to

healthy cells)

Could be tailored to meet

individual patients needs

Potential to be adapted for other

uses – diagnosing other diseases

Cons

High development cost

Still mostly experimental

Complicated design

Electric based nanobots are

vulnerable to stray electronic fields

in environment

Ethical concerns – could nanobots

be used to augment natural

abilities in future?

Conclusion

Nanotechnology is already helping millions in the form of

nanoparticles in cancer detection

With more research and development, we could see targeted

cancer treatment in our lifetimes

Potentially limitless technology; could be applied to other diseases

Sources

Bachelet, Ido, et. all. “A Logic-Gated Nanorobot for Targeted Transport of Molecular Payloads.” Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 17 Feb. 2012.

Enhanced permeability and retention effect.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Oct. 2017.

Loo, Christopher, et. all. “Immunotargeted Nanoshells for Integrated Cancer Imaging and Therapy.” ACS Publications, ACS, 22 Mar. 2005,

MacRae, Michael. “Top 5 Advances in Medical Technology.” ASME.org, ASME, Mar. 2016.

Saxena S, Pramod B J, Dayananda B C, Nagaraju K. Design, architecture and application of nanorobotics in oncology. Indian J Cancer [serial online] 2015 [cited 2017 Oct 28];52:236-41.