Microscopic Metal Particles Could Kill Cancer Without Harming Healthy Cells

New Delhi: Researchers have developed microscopic metal particles that can kill cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue, offering a potential new direction for more targeted and less toxic cancer treatments.

The study by the team from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia remains at the cell-culture stage and has not been tested in animals or humans, Xinhua news agency reported.

However, it suggests a new strategy for designing cancer treatments that exploits cancer's own weaknesses.

The international team led by RMIT researchers created tiny particles, known as nanodots, from molybdenum oxide -- a compound based on a rare metal called molybdenum. It is often used in electronics and alloys.

By tweaking their chemical composition, the scientists enabled the particles to release reactive oxygen molecules -- unstable forms of oxygen that damage cancer cells and trigger their self-destruction.

In tests, the particles killed three times more cervical cancer cells than healthy cells within 24 hours, without the need for light, unusual for technologies that rely on oxidative stress, according to the study published in the journal Advanced Science.

"Cancer cells already live under higher stress than healthy ones. Our particles push that stress a little further, enough to trigger self-destruction in cancer cells, while healthy cells cope just fine," said Zhang Baoyue, first author from the RMIT School of Engineering.

"The result was particles that generate oxidative stress selectively in cancer cells under lab conditions," Zhang said.

Most cancer treatments affect both cancerous and healthy tissue, but technologies that selectively stress cancer cells could enable gentler, more targeted therapies, researchers said.

They added that these particles are made from common metal oxide instead of costly or toxic noble metals like gold or silver, making them likely cheaper and safer to develop.

The RMIT study represents a promising step toward smarter, more targeted cancer therapies. By exploiting the natural vulnerabilities of cancer cells, the nanodots trigger self-destruction specifically in malignant cells, potentially reducing the harsh side effects often seen in conventional treatments like chemotherapy and radiation.

Unlike existing methods that rely on expensive or toxic metals such as gold or silver, these molybdenum oxide particles are cost-effective and safer, which could make advanced cancer treatment more accessible in the future.