Recent research in the field of cancer treatment indicate that anticancer therapy is much more effective in the case where the death of cancer cells is not caused by the action of a drug, and occurs due to the so-called immunogenic form of the answer. That is, when the switching mechanisms of the immune system. However, the question arises, “how to enable them?”. And it is here, according to experimental studies, can help nanomaterials.
In General, immunogenic form of the death of cancer cells involves the incorporation in the tumors of the two mechanisms of death — necrosis or apoptosis. In both cases cells are destroyed, and this is how the process works in a healthy organism. But cancer is something “broken”.
As noted by the authors in his article in the publication Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, an important role in the processes of launching immunogenic forms of cancer can play gold nanoparticles, carbon and silicon. Nanomaterials in this case can be used as “carriers” of substances to increase the effectiveness of therapy and reduce side effects from chemotherapy. While cancer cells killed by immunogenic forms themselves become a kind of “medicine” by transmitting a signal of the death of neighboring cells.
Moreover, nanomaterials have another indisputable advantage — they can act as agents for targeted drug delivery. That is, unlike traditional methods of treatment, such substances will only apply directly to the outbreak of the disease, providing a much less negative impact on the whole body.
In order to make such findings, scientists have conducted a lot of calculations and studied a lot of research on this topic over the past few years. Experts now plan to test the health of his hypothesis in animal models and if these assumptions are confirmed, we can expect a new word in the treatment of cancer.
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