NANOSCALE polymer capsules could one day be used to deliver chemotherapy direct to tumours, leaving adjacent tissue unscathed. The capsules would be designed to rupture when heated by a low-energy laser pulse, delivering their payload right where it is needed.
Anti-cancer drugs would be more effective, and the side effects less severe, if they could home in on a tumour and be delivered in a single burst. This would allow the drug to reach the concentrations needed to kill cancer cells, while minimising damage to surrounding tissue.
So Frank Caruso and his team at the University of Melbourne, Australia, are…
