Nanoparticle shows promise in reducing radiation side effects

From EurekAlert:

Using transparent zebrafish embryos, researchers at Jefferson Medical College have shown that a microscopic nanoparticle can help fend off damage to normal tissue from radiation. The nanoparticle, a soccer ball-shaped, hollow, carbon-based structure known as a fullerene, acts like an "oxygen sink," binding to dangerous oxygen radicals produced by radiation.

The scientists, led by Adam Dicker, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of radiation oncology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center, and Ulrich Rodeck, M.D., professor of dermatology at Jefferson Medical College, see fullerenes as a potentially "new class of radioprotective agents."

They present their team's results November 15, 2005 at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Philadelphia.

While chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the standard treatments for cancer, they take their respective toll on the body. Radiation can damage epithelial cells and lead to permanent hair loss, among other effects, and certain types of systemic chemotherapy can produce hearing loss and damage to a number of organs, including the heart and kidneys...