Spanish researchers from the Catalan Institute of Bioengineering (IBEC), the CIC biomaGUNE, the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and the Institute for Biomedical Research (IRB) have managed to reduce the size of bladder tumors in mice by 90% in a single study dose administered by some Nanorobots.
The Nanorobots are tiny spheres made of silica, 1,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, about the size of a virus. The researchers managed to coat these small beads with urease, an enzyme that transports urea. When mixed with urine from the bladder of mice, the nanotechnology powers itself and injects the radioactive iodine it contains into the tumor to eliminate it.
“Nanorobots use urine as fuel”says Samuel Sánchez, ICREA professor at IBEC and initiator of the project. “They penetrate into the tumor mass and never into the area of healthy tissue,” adds Meritxell Serra-Casablancas, a member of his team.
According to these researchers, it is this system that is inserted into the body of rodents through a cannula and in They hope to test it on humans for three or four years., has a long list of benefits. “It reaches the entire tumor at once, whereas current therapies force the patient to move multiple times to receive treatment. In addition, it is applied in one.” Single dose and“Currently, patients with bladder cancer have to be hospitalized six to eight times,” says Sánchez.
They also hope that thanks to the therapy Nanorobots This cancer, which more directly affects the tumor, will most likely recur after 5 years and never recur. This discovery with a mention in the magazine Nature and that granted Samuel Sánchez the Constantes y Vitales Prize for young talent in biomedical researchThat also promises hope other tumors or with illnesses such as: arthrosis.