'Smart bombs' could kill tumours

London, Nov 6 : Raising hopes of a breakthrough on prostate cancer, scientists are for the first time preparing to test a seek-and-destroy treatment-called 'smart bombs'-on humans.

The "smart bombs" are so sophisticated that scientists are confident say they can destroy a tumour ­without damaging the healthy ­tissue ­surrounding it.

If the trials, which will be conducted next year, prove successful, patients could be treated with the revolutionary new nanotechnology in five years, reports The Daily Express.

A US team at BIND Biosciences, in Massachusetts, will conduct trials on 25 patients.

The technology would also spare cancer ­sufferers from the devastating side effects of the chemotherapy "blanket approach", which kills healthy cells, causes hair loss and can make patients feel ­extremely ill.

The new technology uses tiny nanoparticles that are 1,000 times finer than a human hair.

They promise to deliver molecules of cancer-killing drugs directly to the tumour, wrapped in a "special delivery parcel".

This sheath slowly dissolves releasing its contents over a number of days.

To save the parcels from attack, they are dipped in a compound that makes them invisible to the body's immune system defender.

Enzymes are then stuck on to this shell, which will lock fast when they come across molecules found in cancer cells.

The researchers believe that nanotechnology could also work on breast, lung and brain cancers.

--ANI