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Gold Treatment for Cancer

To the great hope all of those affected with cancer (or who have a loved one infected with cancer), science is constantly working on new and better methodologies for treating this horrible disease. One more promising alternative treatment consists of using gold microparticles to destroy cancerous cells without damaging surrounding tissue.

  1. Cancer

    • Cancer is a blanket term referring to any growth of malignant cells present within any structure of the body. While the symptoms of cancer can vary depending on where it originates, common symptoms are present with most types of cancer. These include chills, fever, general malaise, night sweats and loss of appetite.

    Conventional Cancer Treatments

    • There are three generally accepted methods of combating cancer available today. The first is surgery, used to excise the infected tumor or organ containing a localized growth of cancer. The second is chemotherapy, where small doses of poisonous chemicals are used to indiscriminately destroy cancerous (and some non-cancerous) cells. The final method is radiation therapy, which consists of the implantation of small objects containing radioactive material into cancerous tissue, used to remove the cancer cells' ability to replicate.

    Gold Treatment Theory

    • According to an article published by the University of California San Francisco, gold nanoparticles are being considered as a potentially viable method for treating cancer. The basic technique used is to inject them into the body, binding them with the cancer cells then superheating the particles. Ideally, this would cause the death of the cancer cells without killing any adjacent normal tissue.

    Binding Procedure

    • The gold nanoparticles are forced to bind only with cancerous cells due to researcher's exploitation of the fact that cancer cells produce a protein called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) to a much greater extent than healthy cells. Through engineering the particles with a substance called anti-EGFR, the particles are drawn straight to the cancer cells, much as magnets of opposing polarity are pulled together.

    Considerations

    • Research on this technology is being conducted at both the University of California San Francisco and the Georgia Institute of Technology. As far as cost-benefit ratio is concerned, the amount of gold contained in the nanoparticles is worth little more than a few cents, making it a sound investment towards the potential future hope of curing cancer without the possibility of side effects.

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