Metallic Nanoparticles with Coated Shells Generate Heat from Radio Waves to Destroy Cancer Cells in Minutes

A method for treating cancer with radio waves and metallic nanoparticles with coated shells is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application 20100113861 by University of Arkansas inventors Dr. Alexandru S. Biris, Dr.Yang Xu, Dr. Zhongrui Li and Romanian National Institute of R&D for Isotopic and Molecular Technologies scientist Alexandru R Biris.  The treatment can destroy cancer cells in minutes.

Dr. Alex S. Biris leads the research at the Nanotechnology Center at the University of Arkansas Little Rock and is exploring the science of nanostructures that can be used to alter the properties of other substances at the atomic level.

The metallic nanoparticles have a core formed with a first metallic material, and a shell formed with a non-metallic material containing carbon. The shell is formed to enclose the metallic core completely. The metallic nanoparticles are introduced into a mammal such that the metallic nanoparticles selectively target at least one type of cancerous cell, and subsequently applying at radio frequency of electromagnetic waves to the mammal for a period of time effective to induce skin currents in the cores of the first metallic material of the metallic nanoparticles to cause heat generated locally around targeted at least one type of cancerous cell to kill the cancerous cell.

Graphitic carbon-coated ferromagnetic cobalt nanoparticles ("C--Co--NPs") with diameters of around 7 nm and cubic crystalline structures were synthesized by catalytic chemical vapor deposition and are used in the process to destroy cancer cells. The C--Co--NPs may also be synthesized by other methods or processes. 

Also the delivery of magnetic nanoparticles to relatively large tumor regions can be done directly by self-delivery or by injection while the localized heating driven by RF could be responsible for the tumor ablation process. The thermal results induced by the C--Co--NPs under exposure to low frequency RF radiation have been compared to the results obtained in identical conditions but when single-wall carbon nanotubes were used as the thermal agents. The cell work has been extended to understanding the mechanism that is responsible for the death of the cells by identifying the localized thermal damages such as DNA fragmentation associated with this process. Such medical therapies also can be applied to bacterial, viruses or other biological systems and hold promise for successful tumor treatments in medical clinical applications.

The radio frequency of electromagnetic waves is smaller than a frequency threshold of 500 KHz and the time of exposure to the radio waves ranges between 4 minutes to 30 minutes. The nanostructure is usable as a delivery vehicle for drug and biological systems that include growth factors, antibodies, genes, DNA, RNA and a combination of them to a targeted area. When used as a delivery vehicle for drug, for example, drugs can be attached to the nanostructures for targeted delivery. 

The use of nanoparticles in biology and medicine currently is one of the most intensely researched areas in nanotechnology. Nanoparticles are utilized very actively in drug delivery cancer cell diagnostics and therapeutics. Magnetic nanoparticles, especially, are employed in many areas of medical studies, such as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of biological tissues and processes and colloidal mediators for magnetic hyperthermia of cancer. Many methods have been developed to synthesize and stabilize a wide variety of nanoparticles. Their stability is one of the most important factors for their use in complex biological and medical applications.

However, most of the nanoparticles tend to aggregate together in order to reduce their surface free energy. On the other hand, nanoparticles can be easily oxidized in air, and therefore lose partially or completely desired properties, such as their surface reactivity, structural and magnetic characteristics, and their oxidative states. Direct contact between metallic nanoparticles and human tissues may also cause undesired consequences for the human tissue.

The  Board Of Trustees Of The University of Arkansas holds the rights to the inventive core-shell nanoparticles which address the above deficiencies and inadequacies.