U.S. researchers have found a new approach to fighting cancer tumors by combining a chemotherapy drug with tiny diamonds, Agence-France Presse reported.
The technique could be a way to attack late-stage breast and liver cancer tumors that are resistant to chemo drugs by attaching the chemotherapy to tiny carbon particles called nanodiamonds.
When tested on mice, the nanodiamonds helped the drug, doxorubicin, infiltrate the tumor and shrink it, according to results published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Without the nanodiamonds, the high doses of chemotherapy were too lethal for the mice to survive.
According to the study, this is the first work to demonstrate the significance and translational potential of nanodiamonds in the treatment of chemotherapy-resistant cancers.
The research shows promise in a possible treatment of humans.
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