Carbon nanotubes could be used to improve the development of platinum-based anticancer drugs, it has been reported.

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University have been working together on the use of carbon nanotubes as a "longboat delivery system" that could provide a breakthrough in the development of more generally applicable platinum-based drugs.

The American Chemical Society reports that the researchers have been working on ways to deliver more effective platinum-based drugs, because the main problem has been that the required form of platinum loses activity in the body, meaning it can often become ineffective by the time it reaches the tumour.

However, the nanotube delivery system means that platinum compounds can be transported through the body without losing any activity before arriving at the tumour. The nanotubes allow the compounds to then transform from an inactive form into a potent anticancer drug.

Sources:

New "longboat delivery system" could mean more potent anti-cancer drugs, 27/06/07
http://acswebapplications.acs.org/applications/ccs/application/index.cfm?PressReleaseID=2819&categoryid=8#ARTICLE_1

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