▲ WHO

Nowadays, all over the world, many people are suffering from cancer, and there is no sure method that can cure cancer. In fact, eight million people died from it, and in 2030, WHO anticipates 21 million people will be cancer patients. The concerns about cancer is growing, however, Korean researchers find nanostructures can combat cancer.

▲ Cancer Cells

A local research team has discovered a form of nanostructures that has the potential for later applications in cancer treatment. A joint research team of Yonsei University College of Medicine and Ewha Woman's University assembled a photosensitizer with an anticancer drug mitoxantrone to form uniform nanostructures. When the nanostructures were injected into a laboratory rat with breast cancer, more than 80 percent of the cancer cells were destroyed.

▲ laboratory lab

We still do not know why cancers occur, but we assume that cancer-causing chemicals(around 1,500 species). radiation, a genetic factor, and viruses can cause cancer. To add, 80~90% of cancer occurring is related to the environmental factor, and we cure it with a photodynamic cancer therapy, also known as "radiation therapy." It is commonly used to eliminate residual cancer cells after surgery. However, cancer cells with a deficiency in oxygen survive even through this treatment. After finding nanostructures, the Korean team sees this as "an attractive strategy for overcoming the limitations of photodynamic cancer therapy."

Professor Nam Ki-taek, one of the leaders of the research team, said that the nanostructures would need further experimentation to reaffirm their anticancer effect and test whether they are applicable to other types of cancer as well. Until now, cancer is a disease that ruins people's life, and it has no exact treatment yet, so I believe that the prospect of nanostructures is very bright.

April. 8th, by Kim Dae-hwan