Spanish scientists believe to have found a way to destroy brain tumours

SCIENTISTS in the north of Spain believe they may have found a way to destroy the most lethal forms of brain tumour.

Researchers claim they have developed a nanoparticle capable of penetrating tumours and transporting drugs to malignant cells.

Teams from the Centre for Research in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases of the University of Santiago de Compostela, along with members of Spain’s Carlos III Health Institute and the University of Nottingham, UK, published the results of their experimental therapy in the Advanced Therapeutics journal after carrying out trials on mice.

The research was led by Marcos Garcia Fuentes, who said: “The tests with mice produced very good results given that those who were only given chemotherapy ended up with tumours twice as large as those treated with chemotherapy and nanoparticles.”

He claimed the breakthrough could be applied to humans, saying, “the idea is to implant it (genetic drugs) directly into the brain, for example, because the intravenous route is very complicated and less likely to succeed.”