_משרד_המדע_

NANO GHOSTS -
A “MAGIC BULLET”
FOR FIGHTING
CANCER
Prof. Marcelle Machluf
Technion – Israel Institute of
Technology
The researchers developed nanoparticles, called
nanoghosts, for improved drug delivery. Produced
from the membrane of cells, they possess natural
targeting capabilities to various cancers. Nanoghosts
can be loaded with different drugs and retain the
selective targeting capabilities of their source cells
while leading to dramatic tumor growth inhibition.
DOXIL (CAELYX) FOR
CANCER TREATMENT
Prof. Yechezkel Barenholz
and Prof. Alberto Gabizon
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
BIOMEDICAL/LIFE SCIENCES
Doxil (known as Caelyx in Canada and Europe) is the
world’s first nanomedicine developed for treating cancer of
various forms. The researchers developed a nano-liposome,
a tiny (nano) ball measuring approximately 100 nanometers
in diameter (one ten-thousandth of a millimeter), where
a fatty membrane surrounds a watery liquid in which the
anti-cancer drug (doxorubicin) has been “trapped” at high
concentration in the form of a nanocrystal. The nanoliposomes
direct the drug to cancerous tissues and, at the
same time, make the drug less toxic to healthy tissues. The
drug lengthens patients’ survival and improves their quality
of life.At present, this drug is used worldwide to the benefit
of tens of thousands of patients.
Photo: Roei Greenberg
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