(PhysOrg.com) -- Harvard and Brigham and Women’s Hospital
researchers have devised a method that may allow clinicians to
use higher doses of a powerful chemotherapy drug that has been
limited because it is toxic not only to tumors but to patients'
kidneys. The research, conducted in laboratory animals, marries
chemistry and nanotechnology to deliver toxic platinum atoms to
tumors while almost entirely blocking the platinum from
accumulating in the kidney, according to Shiladitya Sengupta, a
Harvard assistant professor of medicine and health sciences and
technology whose Laboratory for Nanomedicine at Harvard-
affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital conducted the work.
Sengupta has focused his research for three years on cisplatin,
a powerful anti-cancer drug used in first-line chemotherapy.
Sengupta said the drug, discovered about 40 years ago, has many
positive aspects. It is relatively inexpensive and effective
against many cancers. Its toxicity, however, limits its use.
“Even if you can see amazing results