Nano Technology For Cancer Treatments?
He looks up from his notes andannounces ‘I am sorry, but you have peritoneal cancer ‘. Those words cut you through to the core. You wonder if he is talking about you, as he’s looks straight into your eyes, the words glide from his mouth. It, somehow, doesn’t appear real. You could have heard the word mesothelioma but he may have been speaking ga ga as far as you are concerned. You do not know much, yet, but investigate further. No one told you about nanoparticles or mesothelioma, did they?
Mesothelioma cancer is due to asbestos inhalation or, possibly, thru some sort of consumption, though the second isn’t famous for sure. It can present itself in 2 ways : the soreness of the stomach lining and / or thru the lining of the lungs and might have taken 25 30 years to develop.
It’s an incurable cancer which will have derived from working in a business where asbestos was generally used, especially in building. This form of cancer is rare in the lungs and rarer in the peritoneum. The super-fine fibres of the asbestos particles appear to act as a foreign body which irritates the liner of the lungs and peritoneum the body can not absorb or clear the area. This then causes the disease to develop over time .
Mesothelioma of the lungs, it is assumed, develops thru inhaling the asbestos particles, whereas, peritoneal cancer appears to develop through ingestion of comestibles. It is thought that its development is a bi-product of washing asbestos infected clothing and, somehow, gets transferred into the bowel, perhaps thru handling washing, for example. Mesothelioma of the lungs appears to affect the ones that have had contact, whereas mesothelioma of the peritoneum appears to be indirect. However , as a secondary, the affected lung cancer can spread to the abdomen causing secondary peritoneal cancer.
Peritoneal cancer is hard to diagnose, but when this is formalised, can already be too late. It can present itself likewise to ovarian cancer in women, another cancer that seems to be incurable, with intestinal swelling, revulsion and swelling.
Both types of mesothelioma, pleura cancer and peritoneal cancer, affect the lining. This lining covers the stomach and lung walls. It is thick with mesothelial cells, veins and lymphatic network. The lining of the combinations of these materials also covers the organs, making ease of movement. It is within the mass of lymph networks that fluid collects.
To research cancer of this type can be tricky as it is very rare. Nevertheless with the discovery of nanoparticles in the nanotechnology faculties, there are developments that create smart synthetic cells that will attack directly areas of growths. This research will be trialing shortly, which offers hope to several ‘incurable’ cancer conditions.
The researchers suggest that nanoparticle technology could potentially help folk with inoperable and tricky cancers. Cancers that are inoperable because they’re close to vital organs, for example.
Dr Lesley Walker on nanoparticle research and technology, from the charity Cancer Research UK, said: “These results are encouraging, and we look forward to seeing if this method can be used to treat cancer in people.
“Gene therapy is an exciting area of research, but targeting genetic changes to cancer cells has been a major challenge.
“This is the first time a solution has been proposed, so it’s exciting news.” Dated: 10th March 2009, bbc.co.uk.
It might be that through nanoparticles, mesothelioma of the lungs and peritoneal cancers may become a thing of the past. These encrusted gold nanoparticles could be instructed to invade an affected cancerous area and leave a toxic trail of radiation; thereby killing the cancer but leaving the good tissue in tact. This is presently fantasy but, the evidence suggests, could well become fact.
