Graphene will help get rid of cancer forever
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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In one of the universities of Manchester, a group of researchers made an unusual discovery. In the course of the work, it turned out that graphene possesses a unique anticancer property.
Scientists have found that with the help of graphene oxide can destroy cancer stem cells, at the same time, without affecting healthy cells.
If you include treatment with graphene oxide in complex treatment for cancer tumors, the tumor will stop growing, and graphene will help prevent metastasis and re-development of the tumor in the future. Such conclusions were made by specialists after studying the properties of the carbon material.
Cancer stem cells provoke the development of different types of tumors, and they cause metastasis, which results in almost 90% of cancer patients dying. In addition, these cells most often cause a re-development of a cancerous tumor after the course of anti-cancer therapy. Cancer stem cells do not die after chemotherapy or radiotherapy, which are commonly used in cancerous tumors.
As explained by Mahael Lisanti, the leading expert of the new research project, in the course of the work, the effect of graphene oxide on various types of cancers was studied in the ovaries, lung, breast, pancreas, brain, and prostate. Scientists noted that in each case, graphene oxide disastically affected only the pathological stem cells, not allowing them to grow into a tumor. In addition, it was found that healthy cells on the background of treatment with graphene oxide did not receive any toxic effect.
But the experts themselves note that, despite such positive results, it is necessary to wait several years before the preclinical and clinical stage of the experiment to study the effect of the substance on cancer cells more thoroughly. Professor Lisanti emphasized that any new discoveries require careful research, which can last for decades, before the substances can be applied to clinical practice. Experts suggest that their work will still reach the stage of clinical trials, and graphene oxide can be used to treat cancerous tumors.
The group of researchers notes that graphene oxide can be used not only as an auxiliary treatment for standard anticancer therapy, but also as an independent drug that will help to destroy cancer cells.
It should be noted that graphene was developed by Russian scientists who work at the University of Manchester - Andrei Geim and Constantine Novoselov. In 2004, specialists were able to obtain a new substance, which aroused great interest in scientific circles. After the appearance of a unique carbon material, scientists from different countries conducted various experiments to reveal the qualities of the new material. Now graphene, thanks to its unique properties (the rate of electrical conductivity of a substance is compared with the speed of light), is widely used in the electronics industry, as well as in other areas. In 2010 A. Geim and K. Novosyolov were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for advanced experiments with a two-dimensional substance - graphene.
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