Iranian Researchers Develop Anti-Cancer Nanocarrier

According to one of the researchers, the study aimed to synthesize a nanocarrier which was based on carbon quantum dots and to examine its application in taking cellular images and carrying the anti-cancer methotrexate drug.

“Results of the in-vitro surveys show the synthesized nanocarrier capable of carrying drugs in a targeted manner will mitigate the anti-cancer drug’s destructive and side effects on healthy tissues around the tumour and will increase the drug’s effectiveness,” said Parinaz Mokhtari, a member of the research team in Tabriz University, as quoted by IRNA.

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Cancer is one of the major diseases threatening man’s health in most parts of the world. Chemotherapy is one of the common methods of treatment for cancer. However, one of the most important shortcomings of the method is that the anti-drug medicine used affects and destroys healthy cells in addition to killing cancer cells. Therefore, attention has recently been focused on new methods of carrying the drug to cells in order to tackle these problems. In the new methods, the timing, place and speed at which the drug is released is well controlled. The methods not only increase the effectiveness of the medicine, but also considerably reduce its side effects.