Search by tag «Cancer treatment» 13 results

• ITMO Physicists Develop Multifunctional Material for Thermal Melanoma Therapy

  Researchers at ITMO have suggested a quick and simple method to synthesize gold plasmonic nanodiamonds – these hybrid materials can find their application in photothermal therapy of melanoma. The new material can perform two functions: heat up a tumor and measure its temperature. In vitro experiments demonstrated that once plasmonic nanodiamonds were introduced into a tumor and heated, the tumor’s growth slowed down by 65.22%. The results of the study were described in Nanophotonics.

  05.09.2024

• First in the World: ITMO Researchers Train DNA Constructs to Detect Cancer Cells Based on Cancer Marker Concentration

  Researchers from ITMO University have developed DNA constructs based on antisense oligonucleotides that can detect different cancer marker concentrations in cells. Thanks to this capability, the DNA constructs activate only in cancer cells with high concentrations of cancer markers, cleaving the RNAs of genes responsible for the cells’ viability. At the same time, healthy cells, even with several copies of cancer markers inside, remain untouched. With this solution, target cancer therapy will become more accurate, efficient, and safe. The new DNA constructs were described in a paper published in Chemical Communications. 

  17.07.2024

• ITMO Researchers Discover Connection Between Gut Microbiome and Melanoma Treatment

  Having analyzed metagenome data from hundreds of microbiome samples, scientists from ITMO University have found out how the composition of the gut microbiome affects the efficacy of melanoma treatment. In the future, the discovered link can be used to develop treatment plans for cancer patients, as well as improve the efficacy of melanoma treatment. The results of the research are described in a paper published in Life Science Alliance.

  14.03.2024

• ITMO Researchers Predict Carbon Particle Properties for Cancer Diagnostics

  A group of researchers at ITMO has developed a new machine learning-based approach to producing carbon nanoparticles for biomedicine. Thanks to the algorithm, scientists will be able to select the necessary parameters for synthesis of carbon particles with target properties. In the future, the particles can be used for biovisualization of tumors and their treatment with phototherapy. The new approach is described in a paper published in Small.

  20.02.2024

• Researchers Develop New Selective Anti-Cancer Compounds

  In collaboration, researchers from two Russian universities have developed compounds that trigger programmable death in cancer cells and tested their efficiency on cervical tumor samples. The new compounds do not affect healthy cells, their toxicity being eight times lower than that of doxorubicin, a commonly used cancer treatment. This means that in the future, treatments using the new compound may help avoid the common side effects of chemotherapy.

  18.09.2023

• ITMO Scientists Suggest New Synthesis Method For Nanoparticles Used in Cancer Treatment and Diagnostics

  Researchers from ITMO’s ChemBio Cluster have suggested a new way of synthesizing magnetic nanoparticles for cancer treatment and diagnostics. Thanks to machine learning at the core of the new approach, the scientists can quickly select the properties of nanoparticles for efficient MRI diagnostics and hyperthermia treatment. With the new method, the synthesis of a single nanoparticle takes just a few seconds – compared to the hours required in the conventional experimental approach. The method was described in a paper published in Small.

  18.08.2023

• Cancer Explained: How Scientists Can Tame the Disease

  Started by a single mutation in a cell, cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide that killed nearly 10 million people in 2020. In the article, Evgeniya Platonova, a Master’s student at ITMO’s SCAMT Institute, explains what cancer is and how it starts, and shares what medical advances are already helping to combat the disease.

  28.04.2023

• ITMO Scientists Suggest Novel Nanoparticle-Based Cancer Treatment

  Cancer is the second most common death cause in the world, which in 2020 took the lives of nearly 10 million people – every sixth death, according to WHO. Globally, researchers are developing new, more efficient treatments for oncological diseases. Scientists from ITMO also contribute to these efforts: recently, they have come up with a universally applicable magnetic particle from zinc ferrite and manganese ferrite that can facilitate both cancer diagnostics and treatment. The new method increases the efficiency of radiotherapy by 40%, and during magnetic hyperthermia it can heat cancer cells in several seconds, while also securing less exposure for the healthy cells. This study was published in Journal of Materials Chemistry B.

  07.03.2023

• ITMO Fellow Ahmed Eldeeb on Working in Russia and Becoming a PI at 28

  Ahmed Eldeeb decided to become a scientist when he was still at school. Though his family wanted him to pursue a career in engineering, medicine, or programming, the future researcher was so passionate about biotechnology and DNA/RNA technologies that, eventually, his dream brought him to ITMO University. Now the head of a frontier laboratory at the university’s SCAMT Institute, he develops DNA robots for cancer gene therapy and viral diagnostics. In this interview, Ahmed Eldeeb gives an insight into what it's like to build a lab from scratch and lead a team of 23 as a young PI.

  29.12.2022

• ITMO Researchers Developing New Cancer Treatment Using Gold Nanoparticles and Infrared Lasers

  In recent years, oncological diseases have become one of the most wide-spread causes of death in developed countries – and despite the abundant new diagnostics and treatment methods, fighting cancer is still a challenge. Nearly all known treatments have significant side effects, while some of them are even helpless against more persistent cancer cells. One solution to this problem is photothermal therapy, on its own or in combination with other treatments. Researchers from ITMO University have suggested a new method to treat melanoma more effectively and safely using gold nanoparticles. Read on to learn more about the new method.

  03.11.2022