Gold adds not only luster but also years to life, thanks to the rigorous development of nanotechnology cancer diagnosis at Brown University.

Researchers have found a new way to detect cancer in its early phase using gold nanoparticles in x-ray imaging. This technology is particularly promising in the early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer.

Late cancer detection remains a big culprit for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The capacity of standard cancer diagnostic techniques such as MRI scans, CT and ultrasound identifies cancerous cells that measure three centimeters. At this size, the cancer is understood to already be acute.

For the first time, researchers have developed a technology that can detect a tumor mass as small as five millimeters. Gold nanoparticles are coated with polyelectrolyte to make detect small tumors visible in x-ray imaging. The charged polymer layer boosts enables the gold nanoparticles to be absorbed by cancerous cells. X-ray scattering is then employed to detect where the gold nanoparticles have concentrated in malignant cells the liver.

Patients who exhibit risk factors closely associated with cancer can be examined with gold nanotechnology for possible cancerous growth. Researchers are already developing ways to integrate antibodies in nanoparticles to identify earlier cancerous growth in the liver as well as in other organs.

The full development of this cancer diagnostic technique holds a crucial chance in the battle against hepatocellular carcinoma. Most patients with this type of liver cancer do not respond well to chemotherapy. While liver transplant is the most effective treatment, getting a healthy liver is a very long shot. Of those who opt for liver surgery, only twenty percent result in the complete removal of the tumor. Early detection of malignant cells can do so much for the survival of about 500,000 people across the globe who are diagnosed with this liver cancer every year.

-Toni Bacala