Nanotube thermal therapy kills breast cancer cells

A new study reports that breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs), the slow-growing malignant cells thought to be responsible for the growth and spread of breast cancer that are very resistant to traditional treatments, may be responsive to nanotube thermal therapies. The researchers used a mouse model for human breast cancer and injected tumors containing BCSCs with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), which are made up of concentric tubes of graphite. The nanotubes do not kill tumors on their own, but if they are exposed to laser-generated, near-infrared radiation they vibrate and produce heat that is hot enough to kill any tumor cell. Tumor-bearing mice treated with the nanotube therapy experienced complete tumor regression and long-term survival. The results of the study suggest that nanotube thermal treatment could kill both the differentiated cells and stem cells of a breast cancer tumor.