IISc develops technique to detect cancer early, killing infected cells

Researchers exploited the anti-cancerous properties in the hybrid gold and copper sulphide nanoparticles, particularly to target malignancy progressing to form a solid tumour mass in the body. These particles, scientists said, are rich in photothermal, oxidative stress and photoacoustic properties — combining which showed high cancer detection rate.

Breast and many other cancers, when detected early and provided with subsequent medical intervention have resulted in recovery with higher chances of the patient’s survival.

For the experiment, the team subjected the cancer cells, obtained from cell lines, to infrared (IR) light at frequencies 960 nanometres (imaging) and 1,064nm for photothermal study.

“Along with a good detection rate, the observed cancer killing rate was about 25 per cent ,” Jaya Prakash, Assistant Professor, Department of Instrumentation and Applied Physics (IAP), IISc, said. He is one of the authors of the paper published in the ACS Applied Nano Materials. The Bengaluru team of experimentalists further noted that the nanoparticles could also help diagnose certain other cancers, too.

(Anjali Marar works with the Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru)