The fourth most common cancer in men is bladder cancer. It has a relatively low mortality rate, but tends to recur and therefore requires constant monitoring of the patient, as well as frequent hospital visits and the need for repeat therapy.

How is bladder cancer treated?

The treatment methods used to date consist of injecting a drug into the bladder. These treatments have good survival rates, but their therapeutic efficacy is low.

Recently, however, an alternative therapy has emerged. This is the use of nanoparticles capable of delivering therapeutic agents directly to the tumour. Particularly noteworthy here are nanorobots.

Studies in mice show how nanorobots (which are very small in size) are driven by urea found in urine and precisely target the tumour by attacking it with a radioisotope placed on their surface.

Bladder cancer, photo: panthermedia

The attack can be extremely effective, as the size of bladder tumours in mice has been reduced by up to 90%! This is a much more effective and faster therapy than the one used to date, in which patients with this type of cancer usually have between six and 14 hospital visits during treatment.

How is the nanomachine constructed?

Nanomachines are made of a porous sphere, which is made of silica. On their surfaces are various components with specific functions, including the enzyme urease, a protein that reacts with the urea found in urine, thus enabling the nanoparticle to self-assemble. Another important component of the nanoparticle is radioactive iodine, a radioisotope commonly used in the local treatment of cancer.

Why is nanotechnology better than traditional treatment?

Nanorobots reach all walls of the bladder thanks to their self-propulsion. Here they have a significant advantage over the procedure used until now, in which, in order for the drug administered to the patient to reach all the walls of the bladder, it is necessary to change the patient's position every half hour.

The new study also indicates a specific accumulation of nanorobots in the tumour, which not only reach it, but also penetrate inside, enhancing the effect of the administered radiopharmaceutical.

Technology in the fight against cancer, photo: panthermedia

The researchers' study concluded that the nanorobots collide with the epithelium of the urinary tract, but manage to penetrate the spongy tumour and accumulate inside it.

Direct delivery of the radioisotope to the tumour reduces the likelihood of side effects, and the high accumulation in the tumour tissue promotes treatment.

The results of these studies offer hope for the use of other radioisotopes with greater ability to produce therapeutic effects, the use of which is limited when administered systemically.

The researchers' next task will be to determine whether tumours will grow after treatment with this modern therapy.