Two universities in the north-east of England are working together to develop a device that can measure platinum levels in blood.

The University of Durham and Newcastle University are collaborating through the Angel Alliance partnership on research into how platinum is deposited in blood following cancer treatments.

Many cancer drugs, such as cisplatin, contain the precious metal, which can be harmful if it builds up in a patient.

Professor Peter Cumpson at Newcastle University heads up a team working with researchers at the Northern Institute for Cancer Research (NICR), reports nebusiness.co.uk.

A third of people receiving chemotherapy are given platinum-based drugs, he explained to the news provider.

"What we needed was a cheap and quick method of reporting back the level of platinum in the blood," he said.

"At the moment all cancer centres in the UK send samples to Newcastle for measurement. Then the results are sent back the next day. What we need is a handheld device in every cancer centre. This means the treatment could have the maximum possible effect."

Dr Gareth Veal from the NICR explained that it is a fine balance between having enough platinum to kill the tumours and not so much that it is toxic to the patient.

He believes that a device to measure platinum levels will be extremely useful in getting this right.

"Clinicians will have more confidence in the doses to give. This could be knowing when to stop to prevent toxicity," Dr Veal told nebusiness.co.uk.

"But it may be that the patients get the benefit of receiving a higher dose to treat the cancer more effectively."

Platinum in anti-cancer drugs works by attaching itself to DNA in the cancer cells and blocking their replication.

Recent research on cisplatin from the University of Oregon, as reported by Chemical and Engineering News, found that up to 20 times the amount of platinum lands on cells' RNA as it does on the DNA.

Sources:

North Universities join forces for cancer research (03/11/11)

Cisplatin Hitches A Ride On RNA (01/11/11) 

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