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ITHACA, N.Y. (WBNG) — Scientists at Cornell University have discovered tiny particles made of silica that can help the immune system fight cancer.
Silica is a compound of silicon and oxygen common in the Earth’s crust. Cornell Prime dots, also called C’dots, are microscopic particles that can transform tumors that hide from the immune system into ones that the immune system can see and attack.
“It is a very beautiful research result and discovery,” said Uli Wiesner, Spencer T. Olin Professor of Engineering in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, said. “We will now, of course, look very carefully into how this operates in other tumors.”
What was unexpected to researchers was that these particles fought cancer cells without any drugs attached to them. When tested on mice, they saw the cancer shrink.
Wiesner said that chemotherapy drugs that are currently used expose patients to side effects that could be permanent, like heart disease, but with C’dots, there have been none so far.
“My father died of melanoma, my grandfather died of colon cancer, my grandmother died of breast cancer, my sister is a breast cancer survivor,” Wiesner said. “I always hoped by the time I retired, I would have developed something that would help against cancer.”
Research is now progressing to human trials.
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