Gold could help kill off tumour cells

[theHandpuppet]

Very good news!

The Scotsman
August 13, 2014
Gold could help kill off tumour cells
TINY particles of gold could hold the key to treating the most common form of brain cancer, scientists have said.

The “Trojan horse” treatment involves smuggling tiny nanoparticles of gold into the brain to kill tumour cells.

The ground-breaking technique could eventually be used to treat glioblastoma multiforme, which is the most common and aggressive brain tumour in adults, and notoriously difficult to treat, University of Cambridge researchers said.

Many sufferers die within a few months of diagnosis, and just six in every 100 patients with the condition are alive after five years.

Mark Welland, professor of nanotechnology at Cambridge’s St John’s College, said: “The combined therapy that we have devised appears to be incredibly effective in the live cell culture....

MORE at http://www.scotsman.com/news/health/gold-could-help-kill-off-tumour-cells-1-3507519

[MADem]

1. Wow.

A much-loved relative's partner died from glioblastoma (he lasted just under five years). Teddy Kennedy did, too.

[theHandpuppet]

2. I had a friend whose mother died of glioblastoma.

Any potential breakthrough in fighting this awful disease is good news, indeed.