Nanodiamonds Show Promise as Cancer Drug Delivery Mechanism

Nanodiamonds are tiny, spherical molecular structures that can be packed with a wide variety of therapeutic drugs. The drug remains inactive until it is released from the nanodiamond surface. This has important implications for cancer therapy, as most chemotherapy drugs are highly toxic to normal cells.

The new particles can travel through the bloodstream without releasing or activating the drug. This prevents contact of a toxic drug with normal tissue. The particle maintains the drug in an inactive state until it has traveled inside the cancer cell. When the nanoparticle is in the target cell, the drug is released and activated to attack the cell.

The currently used system of packaging and delivery of chemotherapy involves the use of liposomes and polymersomes, another class of nanoparticles. Drugs must be loaded into these particles in an activated state, and may be released at any point in the human body. The activated drugs are capable of damaging any normal tissue that comes into contact with the particle.

Many chemotherapeautic drugs work by damaging rapidly reproducing cells, thus killing cancer cells. But the side effects of chemotherapy are due to damage to healthy reproducing cells, such as those in the bone marrow and lining the gastrointestinal tract. Many of these side effects could be avoided with a delivery system such as the nanodiamond, which maintains the drug in an inactive form until inside the cancer cells themselves.

Nanodiamonds are much smaller than currently used delivery systems. This will allow more mobility of the molecule within the body, and more specific targeting. They also hold much larger volumes of drug within the particle, which provides a means of delivering a very high dose of drug to a small population of cancer cells.

Nanodiamonds may also be used to delivery other types of drugs with undesirable side effects, such as those that treat tuberculosis or viral infections. Prevention of side effects associated with many medications will hopefully make the drugs more tolerable, increase patient compliance, and improve treatment and cure rates.

Studies on the effects of nanodiamond particles themselves have also been promising. Genetic studies have shown that empty nanoparticles do not incite a chronic inflammatory response or induce cellular death. Cells actually grew well in the presence of nanodiamonds. Part of this effect is the fact that nanodiamonds are highly ordered structures, making them easy for cells to interact with. This is important in preventing chronic problems associated with the nanoparticles left behind after drug delivery.

Studies so far have evaluated the use of nanodiamonds in vitro studies of mouse cells and human colorectal cancer cells. Studies in human subjects have not yet been performed. Further investigation is required to determine the safety and efficacy of this technique in humans.

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About the Author Lindsey Harle is a medical doctor who is currently pursuing training in pathology at the University of Hawaii. She has written and published several scientific articles on the subjects of cancer cachexia and androgen deprivation therapy, and has performed original research on the diagnosis of myelodyspastic syndromes.

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