NORMAN, OK, October 18, 2011 – SouthWest NanoTechnologies’ (SWeNT) Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNT) are being used in promising photothermal therapy to suppress tumor growth in breast cancer, new research reveals.

According to a new article published in Small, researchers at South China Normal University demonstrated that phototherapy using a laser light focused on implanted SWeNT Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) will selectively destroy the target mitochondria.  

The nanoparticles convert the light energy into heat that induces cell death in a way that is more localized, less invasive and kills fewer healthy cells compared to other cancer treatment methods.

In this study, the mice treated only with SWeNT SG65 had an average tumor size similar to that of untreated control mice.  While the mice treated by laser alone had a smaller tumors than the control mice, the mice treated with both laser and SWNTs experienced significant tumor suppression.

According to this research, "laser–SWNTs could prove to be a promising photothermal therapy for cancer treatment," says SWeNT CEO Dave Arthur.  "It is gratifying that our products seem to enhance biomedical applications and provide lifesaving therapies for cancer patients that leverage the unique properties of our Single-Wall nanotubes.”

According to the researchers, “nanomaterials for photothermal therapy should have an absorption band in the Near Infrared (NIR) region with uniform size so that a narrow absorption peak can be used for effective optical irradiation.  SWeNT CoMoCAT nanotubes exhibit a sharp absorption band at approximately 980 nm.  It was clear that SWNTs released substantial heat after exposure to 980-nm laser irradiation in vitro, and increased the surrounding temperature.

This study was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China, the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Mitochondria-Targeting Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Cancer Photothermal Therapy

Feifan Zhou, Shengnan Wu, Baoyan Wu, Wei R. Chen, and Da Xing * 

Dr. F. Zhou, Dr. S. Wu, Dr. B. Wu, Dr. W. R. Chen, Dr. D. Xing

MOE Key Laboratory of Laser Life Science & Institute of Laser Life Science

College of Biophotonics South China Normal University Guangzhou 510631, China Dr. F. Zhou , Dr. S. Wu , Dr. D. Xing Joint Laboratory of Laser Oncology with Cancer Center of Sun Yat-sen University South China Normal University Guangzhou 510631, China Dr. W. R. Chen Biomedical Engineering Program Department of Engineering and Physics College of Mathematics and Science University of Central Oklahoma

Edmond, OK 73034, USA

About SWeNT: 

SouthWest NanoTechnologies (SWeNT) is a privately-held specialty chemical company that manufactures high quality Single-Wall and Specialty Multi-Wall carbon nanotubes, printable inks and CNT-coated fabrics for a range of products and applications.  SWeNT was created in 2001 to spin off nanotube research developed at the University of Oklahoma.  For more information, please visit www.swentnano.com.