The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first clinical trials in humans that use “Cornell Dots” – brightly glowing nanoparticles – to light up cancer cells and aid in diagnosing and treating cancer. The first trial, with five melanoma patients, will seek to verify that the dots are safe and effective in humans, and to provide data to guide future applications. The dots are comprised of silica spheres less than eight nanometers in diameter that enclose several dye molecules; they are chemically inert and small enough to pass through the body and out through the urine. The technology has the ability to show the extent of a tumor’s blood vessels, cell death, treatment response, and invasive or metastatic spread to lymph nodes and distant organs. C dots also remain in the body long enough for surgery to be completed, and they may eventually find use as a carrier to deliver radioactivity or drugs to tumors. Michelle Bradbury, M.D., an assistant professor of radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, said “[T]his is step one to jump-start a process we think will do multiple things with one platform.” The article can be viewed online at the link below.
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Jan11/CUdotsClinical.html