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Scientists use lasers to kill cancer cells

Posted on: Monday, 30 March 2009, 13:17 CDT

U.S. scientists are using computer simulations to study the effect of heating nanoparticles with lasers to kill cancer cells without damaging healthy tissue.

Rice University Professor Yildiz Bayazitoglu and doctoral student Jerry Vera said they hope to raise the efficiency of destroying tumors by fine-tuning methods of heating them based on the size and composition of the tumor and surrounding tissue.

The researchers said they found attacking a tumor with two lasers can heat it more thoroughly than a single laser. For tumors as large as 1 centimeter, simulations showed opposing lasers surgically inserted via fiber optics in a minimally invasive procedure produced the most uniform temperature profile in every case.

Lasers and nanoparticles are already being used to treat cancer, with a Houston company founded by Rice scientists Jennifer West and Naomi Halas conducting human tests of a system that uses nanoshells heated by a near-infrared laser to kill tumors.

Bayazitoglu's approach would refine such treatments by taking into account the light-scattering properties of nanoparticles. His concern is that nanoparticles near the surface of a tumor will block a laser from reaching those at the center.

The research appeared in the January issue of the International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer.

Source: United Press International

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