Precious metal specks could lead to prostate cancer breakthrough

Scottish scientists have developed a new technology that could improve treatment for prostate cancer – using tiny specks of a precious metal.

Researchers at the Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre at the University of Edinburgh and the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute in Glasgow have turned minute fragments of the rare metal palladium into miniature chemotherapy-making “factories” and shown that these can kill prostate cancer cells in the lab.

The scientists said the approach could improve treatment for some prostate cancer patients by providing a way to treat the disease locally with reduced side-effects.

The study was funded by Cancer Research UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Each year, around 3,300 men in Scotland are diagnosed with prostate cancer and around 930 die from the disease, which is the most common cancer in men in Scotland. Researchers from Edinburgh and Glasgow are investigating palladium to develop a new way to treat prostate cancer.

Palladium is a safe chemical element which has the ability to catalyse – or activate – certain chemical reactions.

The researchers modified a type of chemotherapy called doxorubicin with a chemical “mask” that keeps it in an inactive form – called a “prodrug” – until it comes in contact with palladium. In zebrafish, they demonstrated that the prodrug did not cause toxicity to the heart, a common sideeffect of the drug that limits its use.

The team then showed that tiny fragments of palladium could switch on the modified drug into the active form of doxorubicin, which successfully killed prostate cancer cells in dishes.

The scientists implanted the palladium devices into prostate tumours in mice, using ultrasound imaging to guide the needle. This showed that the implants were safe and remained at the site of the tumour.

When the tumours were later removed from the mice and analysed further, the scientists found that the palladium devices maintained the ability to activate the prodrug and trigger cancer cell death.

Lead scientist Prof Asier Unciti-broceta, from the Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre, said: “We are very excited about this development.

“There’s more work to do before we can use this in patients, but the results of this study are an encouraging first step.”