Common tumor among men is reduced by 90% using nanobots

Nanorobots that move through the bloodstream could reduce cancerous tumors in the bladder by 90 percent.

In a potential breakthrough, scientists in Barcelona created tiny 450-nanometer-sized robots that deliver therapeutic directly to the growth.

Bladder cancer is the one of the common type of cancer in men  and while it has a low mortality rate nearly all tumors return within five years.

In a study on mice, researchers showed that the tiny machines could eliminate the need for multiple tumor treatments by reducing the tumor after one try.

Nanorobots transmit the nanoparticles that attack the tumor and reduce its size by 90 percent

Current treatments for bladder cancer include surgery and chemotherapy, which can cost more than $65,000.

That is because patients need six to four hospital visits before they see the kind of tumor reduction.

However, the new study has claimed the nanobots can achieve that in one visit. 

The research was conducted by scientists at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and CIC biomaGUNE in collaboration with the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)

The nanobots are 450 nanometers in diameter - and to see it you would have to increase magnification 20 million times. 

The robots were covered with with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on their surfaces, allowing researchers to see how they moved through the bloodstream and attacked the tumor 

Bladder cancer is the most common type of cancer men develop, and most return within five years

The team injected the nanobots into the blood stream of mice that had bladder cancer and watched as the gold-colored machines went to work, spreading through the body to reach the tumor. 

These nanomachines are designed with a silica sphere that has different  components, including the enzyme urease and radioactive iodine. 

Urease reacts with urea in urine to propel the nanorobot, while the radioactive iodine is what treats the cancer.

The team realized the nanobot increased the pH balance near the tumor that broke down its extracellular matrix – which contributes to the mechanical properties of tissues.

Once identified, the tiny nanobots smacked into the tissue of the urinary tract 'as if it were a wall.'

But because the tumor is spongier, the tiny robots are absorbed and group inside and delivered radioactive iodine, a radioisotope commonly used to treat localized tumors and cancer of the thyroid gland. 

The nanorobots localized the tumors and entered them to directly administer radioactive iodine to shrink the tumor

The researchers noted how the nanobots can enter the tumor is unclear, as they lack specific antibodies to recognize the growth, and the tissue is typically stiffer than healthy tissue. 

Meritxell Serra Casablancas, co-first author of the study and IBEC researcher, said: 'However, we observed that these nanorobots can break down the extracellular matrix of the tumor by locally increasing the pH through a self-propelling chemical reaction. 

'This phenomenon favored greater tumor penetration and was beneficial in achieving preferential accumulation in the tumor.' 

Although the initial recovery rates for bladder cancer are successful, 30 to 70 percent of patients’ tumors return, requiring additional treatment and expenses, and progress by between 10 and 30 percent.

‘The innovative optical system that we have developed enabled us to eliminate the light reflected by the tumor itself, allowing us to identify and locate nanoparticles throughout the organ without prior labeling, at an unprecedented resolution,’ said Julien Colombelli, leader of the Advanced Digital Microscopy platform at IRB Barcelona.

The comes as the cost to treat bladder cancer is on the rise, costing the average patient a whopping $9.4 billion throughout their entire treatment as of 2020, up from $8.4 billion in 2015, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Scientists who conducted the nanobot study are still unsure if the nanobot treatment will stop the tumor from returning, but following the nanobot’s success, additional studies are already underway to determine the long-term efficacy.

‘The results of this study open the door to the use of other radioisotopes with a greater capacity to induce therapeutic effects,’ said Cristina Simó, co-author of the study.