Engineering Analysis 0011 Tues/Thurs 2:00 pm
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GOLD NANOPARTICLES: PROMISING FUTURE IN CANCER THERAPY
Michael Signorella (mds114@pitt.edu)
nanoparticles stand above the competition in this regard
because they are quite safe when introduced to a cell. Gold
is a biocompatible compound [2]. Because gold can enter a
person’s system without causing them harm, it is a perfect
candidate to be used to locate cancer cells. The gold
nanoparticles can enter someone’s system and carry out their
designated functions with no risk to the patient. The
patient’s safety is the number one concern and gold
nanoparticles seem to be the best bet to ensure that safety.
INTRODUCTION: GOLD
NANOPARTICLES: POSSIBLE ANSWER
TO DEFEAT CANCER
For many years cancer has been a disease plaguing
mankind. Each year this disease continues to deal out death
tolls at a devastating rate. Although there are many forms of
treatment currently in use to combat various types of cancer,
very few of them provide truly effective results while
keeping the patients safety as a main priority. The answer to
finding a method of cancer treatment that is both effective
and safe for the patient is in the use of gold nanoparticles.
Gold Nanoparticles come in various shapes and sizes,
depending on the type of treatment involved. Treatments
involving gold nanoparticles involve covering cancer cells
with them and using specialized lasers to destroy the cancer
cells by inducing hyperthermia in them. In lab testing gold
nanoparticles have shown much promise in their cancer
fighting ability, but there is still much work that needs done
to perfect their methods. In order for this form of treatment
to become an option, it must become safe, reliable, and meet
the engineers’ code of ethics which will be discussed later in
this article. Almost everyone is affected by cancer in their
life, whether they have been diagnosed with a form of it or
have lost loved ones such as myself. I have lost my
grandmother and aunt to cancer, and have many more family
members who have battled it. I am very interested in this
subject because I want to find something to make sure that
my family does not have to go through the anguish of having
one of its own fights a losing battle with cancer. I also want
to make sure that no one else will have to go through grief.
The chance to rid the world of such a plague would be
nothing short of remarkable and enough of a motivation for
myself to fully explore all the potential gold nanoparticles
possess. In this article, I will explain that Gold Nanoparticles
should be researched more extensively because of their
ability to detect cancer, effectiveness in destroying cancer
cells, and promising results in laboratory testing and also
touch upon the importance for problems in engineering such
as this to be discussed in freshman engineering classes.
Superb Detection Ability
One of the reasons why cancer can be so deadly is that
in many instances, the cancer isn’t discovered until it’s
already too late. In almost all cases with cancer, the earlier
the cancer is detected the more likely it will be that the
patient will survive. Compared to other nanoparticles, gold
nanoparticles have the edge because of their detection ability
[1] [2]. Gold Nanoparticles are especially good at detecting
cancer cells and allowing them to be seen through some
medical imaging equipment. Because gold can scatter light
so strongly, the cancer cells sprayed with gold nanoparticles
were immediately visible [3]. The near instant imaging of
cancer cells can be very advantageous in diagnosing cancer.
The faster cancer is able to be diagnosed, the more time
doctors will have to engage the cancer before it reaches a
more dangerous stage in cancer development. The act of
catching cancer in its early stages itself is enough to increase
survival rates; when dealing with human lives even a small
increase is a significant increase.
CANCER TREATMENT: MAKE IT HOT
Gold nanoparticles prove their effectiveness in
combatting cancer because they not only possess the ability
to detect cancer but also destroy cancer cells and reduce
tumor sizes. Gold nanoparticles fight cancer cells using
hyperthermia. This is done by covering the cancer cells in
gold nanoparticles and delivering a form of energy to the site
that is then converted to thermal energy, which causes a
super-heating of the cancer cells [1]. Although the thought
of super-heating cells within a body sounds potentially
dangerous, it is actually quite safe compared to other
methods of fighting cancer.
CANCER DETECTION: CATCHING IT
EARLY
Surgery and chemotherapy both involve many risks and
can make life uncomfortable for patients who undergo them,
while hyperthermia is a much safer and easier process.
Because gold nanoparticles are able to very quickly convert
Gold: a biocompatible solution
A common problem that some nanoparticles used in
cancer detection have is their toxicity to cells. Gold
University of Pittsburgh,
Swanson School of Engineering
R_07
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Michael Signorella
absorbed energy into heat energy, they are excellent to use to
cause hyperthermia [1]. When cancer cells are covered in the
gold nanoparticles and exposed to a specialized laser that
can produce high levels of energy, they can heat up and
destroy the cancer cells in only fractions of a second. The
heat energy achieved by the gold nanoparticles in this short
period of time is high enough to make gold covered cancer
cells die, thus treating the cancer effectively. It is important
for engineers to ensure the quality of the gold materials used
to cover the cells. This will be discussed in the ethics section
more thoroughly.
The most important component of gold nanoparticle
testing is the effectiveness of it inside living organisms.
When it comes to being used within a living target gold
nanoparticles have remained consistent in their usefulness.
Almost all in vivo studies conducted have resulted in tumor
growth delay with no adverse effects [5]. The future looks
bright for gold nanoparticles one day being used within
living humans to treat cancer. As long as positive results
keep occurring through animal testing, methods will be
developed to safely treat humans. Presenting results from
experiments appropriately will be discussed in the ethics
section.
The effect of the induced hyperthermia is able to only
target cancer cells, leaving all surrounding healthy cells
unharmed [1] [4]. The reason why using gold nanoparticles
is so effective in only targeting cancer cells is that cancer
cells are more susceptible to hyperthermia because of their
high metabolic rates [1]. This trait of cancer cells makes the
hyperthermia method of treatment even safer to surrounding
healthy cells because the cancer cells are affected by the
thermal energy input much faster than healthy cells, making
the time needed to destroy cancer cells a lot less. This
ultimately decreases the time healthy cells are exposed to the
thermal energy and the risk of damage to them. By being
able to kill only targeted cancer cells, leaving healthy cells
unharmed, using gold nanoparticles seems like the an
excellent option for using treatments like chemotherapy that
can have harmful effects throughout the body. If cancer
treatment as a whole is able to evolve to where there are no
harmful side effects and uncomfortable aspects, the way
people will think when faced with cancer can possibly
change. Having a good frame of mind is essential when
going into any form of treatment.
Far range of treatment
One special thing that gold nanoparticles can do for
cancer treatment is target forms of cancer that are normally
difficult to treat. Gold nanoparticles were used to treat
central nervous system tumors [1]. Also they have been
looking promising in the treatment of pancreatic cancer,
whose survival rate has not significantly improved. The
ability of gold nanoparticles to take cancer treatment to
places where it was thought to be out of reach is very good
news for all cancer patients.
THE ETHICS OF GOLD
When engineers work to solve a problem, they are
required to meet a specific code of ethics. This problem in
engineering is no different. According to the Biomedical
Engineering Society’s code of ethics, biomedical engineers
must consider the larger consequences of their work in
regard to cost, availability, and delivery of health care [6].
For biomedical engineers in this case, the larger
consequence is often regarding a human’s life. This code is
very important in this aspect of biomedical engineering
because it prevents bioengineers from holding back on the
quality of their products in order to save money or anything
of that nature. For engineers, it is also of ethical importance
to only present clear, factual information to the public. The
National Society of Professional Engineers states in its code
of ethics states that engineers shall avoid the use of
statements containing a material misrepresentation of fact or
omitting a material fact [7]. Much of the work of engineers
occurs in secure settings, out of the public eye. It is
important that when engineers reveal the results of their
work to the public, they present the information in an
unadulterated form. It is engineers’ duty to serve the public
and improve the quality of life for them, so we must provide
them the service of being completely honest and not taking
advantage of their trust by presenting misrepresented facts.
LABORATORY
RESULTS:
UNDERSTANDING THE TRUE VALUE OF
GOLD
Apparent tumor size reduction
Using gold nanoparticles to cure cancer is not a new idea.
Many tests both in vivo and in vitro have been conducted
and resulted in the thermal ablation of cancerous cells [2].
During clinical studies there was a significant reduction in
the size of tumors that were treated with gold nanoparticle
induced hyperthermia [1]. Also tests show that the survival
rate of mice with tumors treated with gold nanoparticles
increased from 20% to 80%. These lab results show us that
gold nanoparticles can definitely perform their task of
binding to cancer cells and exposing them to hyperthermia.
Since the current process works, researchers are able to
focus in on perfecting it and harnessing the gold
nanoparticles full power.
THE VALUE OF EDUCATION
In vivo testing: No harmful side effects in sight
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Michael Signorella
I feel like this assignment of choosing a problem in
engineering is very important for all potential engineers to
take. General undergraduate engineering requirements as
established by ABET mandate that each student's curriculum
includes mathematics, engineering topics, and humanities
[8]. Studying the many types of problems in engineering
opened up my eyes to the wide range of things that engineers
do. Students can take advantage of this because they can find
a topic that interests them and relate it to the engineering. By
doing this, it reveals the different kinds of engineering that
would interest a student the most. It also shows the possible
jobs that would a student might want to look into when they
graduate college. I feel like it is very important for students
to have an idea of the kind of work they want to do by the
time they graduate college.
OneFile.
(Online
Article).
http://go.galegroup.com.pitt.idm.oclc.org/ps/retrieve.do?sgH
itCountType=None&sort=DASORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=upitt_
main&tabID=T003&searchId=R3&resultListType=RESUL
T_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=AdvancedSearchF
orm&currentPosition=1&contentSet=GALE%7CA1469586
50&&docId=GALE|A146958650&docType=GALE&role=
[4] G. Terrentyuk. (2009). “Laser-induced Tissue
Hyperthermia Mediated by Gold Nanoparticles: Toward
Cancer Phototherapy.” Journal of Biomedical Optics.
(Online Article).
http://biomedicaloptics.spiedigitallibrary.org.pitt.idm.oclc.or
g/article.aspx?articleid=1102952
[5] Y. Di, et al. (2012) "Emerging inorganic nanomaterials
for pancreatic cancer diagnosis and treatment." Cancer
Treatment Reviews 38.6: 566+. Academic OneFile. (Online
Article).
http://www.sciencedirect.com.pitt.idm.oclc.org/science/articl
e/pii/S0305737212000242
CONCLUSION: GOLD NANOPARTICLES
HAVE SHOWN POTENTIAL THROUGH
TESTS TO BE THE DEMISE OF CANCER
Gold has become even more valuable of an item to
humans. Gold nanoparticles have the ability to change
cancer diagnosis and treatment, making it a lot more
beneficial for cancer patients and their loved ones. Also they
can help people detect their cancer in the earliest stages,
making the defeat of the cancer a lot easier of a process.
Gold nanoparticles can also destroy cancer cells effectively,
while leaving surrounding cells unharmed and having no
adverse side effects. Compared to the current forms of
cancer treatment, it looks to be much safer and tolerable for
patients. Gold nanoparticles have the potential to make
cancer a lot less scary. By being more optimistic about
cancer treatment, people will have an easier time coping
with it. Although clinical research has had excellent results
in their tests using gold nanoparticles, much work has to be
done in order to make them safe for use in humans.
Extensive further should be conducted to harness the full
capability of gold nanoparticles.
[6]n.a. (2004). “Biomedical Engineering Society Code
of Ethics.” Biomedical Engineering Society. (Web).
http://www.bmes.org/aws/BMES/asset_manager/get_file/19
110?ver=3480
[7] n.a.(2012). “NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers.”
NSPE. (Web).
http://www.nspe.org/Ethics/CodeofEthics/index.html
[8] J. Guthrie (2002). “Engineering Education.” The
Gale
Group
Inc.
(Online
Article).
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id
=GALE%7CCX3403200213&v=2.1&u=upitt_main&it=r
&p=GVRL&sw=w&authCount=1
REFERENCES
[1]J. Li. (2010). “Gold-Nanoparticle-Enhanced Cancer
Photothermal Therapy.” Selected topics in Quantum
Electronics, IEEE Journal of. (Online Article). DOI:
10.1109/JSTQE.2009.2030340.
[2] M. Abhilash. (2009). “Use of Nanoparticles and Nano
crystals in Drug Discovery.” The Internet of
Nanotechnology.(OnlineArticle).http://go.galegroup.com.pitt
.idm.oclc.org/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE%7CA200
907553&v=2.1&u=upitt_main&it=r&p=ITOF&sw=w&auth
Count=1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank all the librarians at the University of
Pittsburgh for their useful information on using Pitt’s
databases. I would also like to thank my Grandmother for
giving me the motivation for writing this paper and helping
me choose my subject.
[3] I. Schneider. (2009) "Gold nanoparticles show promise
for cancer treatment." Laser Focus World . Academic
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Michael Signorella
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