Scientists have created a way of targeting cancerous tumours and blocking their blood vessels.
A team led by researchers at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research at UC Santa Barbara developed nanoparticles, minute particles invisible to the eye, which seek out the tumours and then bind to their blood vessels.
Tests on mice found that once bound they then attract more nanoparticles to the tumour.
Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, the researchers claim that their nanoparticles can help with imaging of the tumour as well as acting as a clotting agent and obstructing up to 20 per cent of the tumour's blood vessels.
Although this blocking is not enough to reduce the rate of tumour growth, the latest discovery is said to be a promising target for future studies.
Lead researcher Dr Erkki Ruoslahti said: "Having identified the principle of self-amplification, we are now optimising the process, hoping to obtain a more complete shut-down of blood flow into the tumour to strangle it.
"We are also in the process of adding a drug delivery function to the particles. These two approaches are synergistic; the more particles we bring into the tumour, the greater the obstruction of the blood flow and more of the drug is delivered into the tumour."
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