According to BBC News, scientists at Edinburgh University are in the process of developing a new device that could reduce some of the side-effects of chemotherapy treatment for cancer patients. The side effects it could possibly prevent include sickness, a weakened immune system and even hair loss.
The micro device works by using a small amount of the metal palladium, coated in a substance which allows it to penetrate cells safely to trigger reactions. This will allow cancer treatments to work at the site of the tumour, rather than negatively impacting on normal cell activity throughout the body.
Pending further research, scientists believe that this device can be used to treat cancer patients and hopefully limit the side-effects of aggressive chemotherapy treatments. The device is still in the early stages of development, but it could help to reduce hair loss and sickness in cancer patients.
Professor Mark Bradley from Edinburgh University’s chemistry school, which is working alongside the Universiti Kebangsaan in Malaysian on this groundbreaking research, commented on the discovery. He said:
“This technique potentially gives us the ability to deliver drugs to exactly where they are needed, for example in targeting cancerous tumours.”