The researchers learn for the first time that they can use nanoparticles as the main ingredient in regular antacid tablets to keep a cancerous tumor from growing.
Science Daily reports that study was led by Avik Som, an MD/Ph.D. student, and Samuel Achilefu, professor of radiology and of biochemical and molecular biophysics in the School of Medicine and of Biochemical Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The study was issued online in Nanoscale.
The study involved using two novel methods that create nanoparticles from calcium carbonate. These were injected intravenously into a mouse model to cure solid tumors. The results show that the compound transformed the pH of the tumor condition from acidic to more alkaline. This prevents the cancerous tumor from growing.
"Cancer kills because of Metastasis," Som said. "The pH of a tumor has been heavily correlated with metastasis. For a cancer cell to get out of the extracellular matrix or the cells around it, one of the methods it uses is a decreased pH."
The team is looking for new approaches to increase the pH of the tumor. The pH in calcium carbonate rises as high as 9. However, when injected into the body it only increases the pH to 7.4 which is the normal pH in the human body.
To resolve this issue, Som and the other researchers have established a method utilizing polyethylene glycol-based diffusion to integrate the 20 and 300 nanometer-sized calcium carbonate. They also formed another method to produce 100-nanometer-sized calcium carbonate by making a method that is called ethanol-assisted diffusion. Then, they developed a solvent that is made of albumin. This keeps the calcium carbonate nanoparticles from growing.
The team injected the calcium carbonate nanoparticles into the mouse model daily, and the tumor was kept from growing. On the other hand, when they ended the injecting of nanoparticles, the tumor started growing again.
The researchers are targeting to know the optimal dose to inhibit metastasis and know if it can be used with chemotherapy drugs.
Wikipedia defines "nanoparticle" as an element between 1 and 100 nanometers in size that behaves as the whole unit with respect to its characteristics and transport. It is used in research and has been a potential application in biomedical, electronic fields and optical.
