Could gold nanotubes help tackle asbestos-related cancer?

In a new study, led by investigators from the Universities of Cambridge and Leeds (both UK), researchers describe the synthesis of gold nanotubes with ‘tunable’ physical properties and demonstrate their cytotoxicity in primary mesothelioma cells – cells of a ‘hard-to-treat’ malignant cancer that results from asbestos exposure. Published in the journal Small, the researchers demonstrate that inside cancer cells, the gold nanotubes heat up due to light absorption following laser application, which is toxic to the cells. Each year, over 2600 individuals in the UK are diagnosed with mesothelioma, a malignant cancer that results from asbestos exposure. Although asbestos use...