Small cancer tracers can improve survival

February 13, 2020 / BIOON / -- nanoparticles that can detect complex cancer cells and potentially improve 5-year survival are being used in human trials Ferronova, a South Australian company, has developed nanoparticles to identify early tumors and related cancer cells Photo source: Stewart Bartlett, chief executive of ferronova, https://cn.bing.com, said that these tiny cancer tracers are expected to be tested in April 2020 in patients with oral cancer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and are currently awaiting critical approval Bartlett said that once ferronova's polymer coated iron oxide nanoparticles are injected into patients, they will appear on MRI within 15 minutes "The way they work in cancer is that they're designed to be imaged around solid tumors, they're absorbed by your lymphatic system like foreign bodies, and they follow the same path as primary tumors spread If you really know where these particles are going, you can also determine where the cancer is going "Ferronova was developed by a cooperative nanoparticle research project between the University of South Australia and the University of Victoria in New Zealand, supported by intellectual property investors powerhouse ventures and UniSA ventures Bartlett said pre clinical trials at the Mawson lakes lab gave the company confidence to use the particles in humans He said the accuracy of the treatment is expected to reach 90% "We add a molecule to the particles, so they go into the first lymph node and are retained in the first lymph node, which no other magnetic particle can do," Bartlett said The advantage of doing this is that you can inject first, and then do MRI 15 minutes later But it doesn't matter if you don't have surgery for two or three days, because they stay in the first draining lymph node "He said the technology has now been used for cancers such as breast cancer and melanoma "If you look at patients who are diagnosed with local cancer, their five-year survival rate is almost 100%," Bartlett said "Our technology makes it possible for complex cancer patients to have such a high survival rate Lung cancer is a good example The five-year survival rate of patients with local early lung cancer is about 50% Our goal is to really improve the five-year survival of more complex cancer patients who are unable to utilize existing early diagnosis techniques "Reference: tiny cancer tracers could lift survival rates