Fighting cancer with lasers and nanoballoons that pop

Chemotherapeutic drugs excel at fighting cancer, but they’re not so efficient at getting where they need to go.

They often interact with blood, bone marrow and other healthy bodily systems. This dilutes the drugs and causes unwanted side effects.

Now, researchers are developing a better delivery method by encapsulating the drugs in nanoballoons – which are tiny modified liposomes that, upon being struck by a red laser, pop open and deliver concentrated doses of medicine.

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The image shows a nanoballoon before (left) and after (right) being hit by a red laser. The laser causes the balloon to pop open and release the anti-cancer drugs directly at a tumor. Credit: Jonathan Lovell