A newly published study out of Boston suggests that nanoprobes loaded with fluorescent rhodamine might help surgeons see and remove even the tiniest peritoneal mesothelioma tumors. Surviving Mesothelioma has just posted an article on the study. Click here to read the details.
Researchers with Boston University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital delivered the fluorescent nanoparticles directly into the peritoneal cavity of rats, where cancers like peritoneal mesothelioma grow.
(Credit: Getty Images)
“The covalent incorporation of rhodamine into ~30 nm eNPs increases the fluorescent signal compared to free rhodamine thereby affording a brighter and more effective probe than would be achieved by a single rhodamine molecule,” writes Aaron Colby, a bioengineer at Boston University.
The study, published in the American Chemical Society’s Nano journal, found that the expansile nanoparticles that were used to deliver the fluorescent material were 95 percent accurate at seeking out and exposing peritoneal mesothelioma and other kinds of peritoneal tumors.
“Given that completeness of cytoreductive surgery has a direct bearing on mesothelioma prognosis, it stands to reason that any technology that improves visualization during surgery also has the potential to improve mesothelioma survival,” says Alex Strauss, Surviving Mesothelioma’s Managing Editor.
