A group of scientists of MEPhI and Lomonosov MSU together with their colleagues from the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Germany) and Friedrich-Schiller-University (Germany) have created a new approach to the diagnostics of breast cancer with the help of nanoparticles of porous silicone.

A relatively new term for modern science, nanoteranostics, means conjunction of methods of nanoscale diagnostics and therapy. One of the perspective methods of nanoteranostics is using nanoparticles of porous silicone for the detection of damaged cells.

Silicone nanoparticles (SiNPs) have a lot of advantages in comparison with other nano-sized particles, used for tumour detection and curing. They are biocompatible, have low cytotoxicity and genotoxicity.  SiNPs are biodegradable, which is essential for their complete removal from living cells and tissues. Furthermore, they exhibit useful properties for brachi- and photodynamic therapy on silicon nanostructures.

There is no doubt that the porous silicon nanoparticles may as well be used, as a solute, and nano-drug delivery container. These unique properties have pushed scientists to conduct a number of extensive research of nanoparticles of porous silicon and the prospects for their use in cancer theranostics.

In the laboratory, they found that complete removal of the porous silicon of the body is possible in a few weeks without the detection of any signs of toxicity. However, the speed of SiNPs degradation depends on many factors. Among them there are, for example, particle size, porosity, pH. Therefore, this period can vary from a few days to several months.

Typically, the time length of the biodegradation of the silicon is determined by its concentration in the blood plasma. Alternatively, you can use histological methods or analysis of the silicon content in the tissues. However, these assay methods are inaccurate, slow and very labor intensive. Therefore,  obviously it increases the need to develop new methods for monitoring the biodegradation of porous silicon nanoparticles.

Scientists from MEPhI together with his colleagues have described a new approach for the in vitro study of intracellular behavior of SiNPs, localization and biodegradation in breast cancer cells nanoteranosticheskim by micro-Raman spectroscopy. The research results were published in the prestigious scientific journal Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine (Nanomedicine: NBM).

"Thanks to the combined efforts of specialists representing a new branch of science, nanoteranostics, we are able to optimize cancer treatment outcomes and other serious diseases," said Professor of MEPhI Laboratory of bionanofotonics Viktor Tymoshenko.

New methods pave the way for the destruction of cancer cells and tumors with subcellular accuracy, and nanoparticles, used in this process, will be removed from the body after the procedure without any undesired secondary effects. "Nanoteranostics allows our patients to avoid the effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, whose harm is much greater than the disease itself," said the expert.

According to the scientist, nanoteranostics is the future, because it combines non-invasive diagnosis and therapy.