Scientists Destroy Cancer Cells Using Molecular Jackhammers

What Happened?

Researchers at Rice University in Texas have discovered an innovative way to kill cancer cells without surgery or chemotherapy.

James Tour, a chemist at Rice University, said:

‘It is a whole new generation of molecular machines that we call molecular jackhammers. They are more than one million times faster in their mechanical motion than the former Feringa-type motors, and they can be activated with near-infrared light rather than visible light. The use of near-infrared light is important because it enables scientists to get deeper into the body. Cancer in bones and organs could potentially be treated without needing surgery to get to the cancer growth.’

Why it Matters

ScienceAlert recently reported ‘In tests on cultured, lab-grown cancer cells, the molecular jackhammer method scored a 99 percent hit rate at destroying the cells. The approach was also tested on mice with melanoma tumors, and half the animals became cancer-free.’

Though human tests have not yet been conducted, animal experiments are often the first step in getting new treatments ready for testing with human patients.

The National Cancer Institute website states ‘Cancer has a major impact on society in the United States and across the world. Cancer statistics describe what happens in large groups of people and provide a picture in time of the burden of cancer on society.’

A National Cancer Institute study estimated that 2,001,140 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the United States and 611,720 people will die from the disease this year.

The most common cancers (listed in descending order according to estimated new cases in 2024) are:

• Breast cancer,

• Prostate cancer,

• Lung and bronchus cancer,

• Colon and rectum cancer,

• Melanoma of the skin,

• Bladder cancer,

• Kidney and renal pelvis cancer,

• Non-Hodgkin lymphoma,

• Endometrial cancer,

• Pancreatic cancer,

• Leukemia,

• Thyroid cancer, and

• Liver cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society:

‘There are many different approaches for treating cancer, depending on the type of cancer, how advanced it is, what types of treatment are available, and what the goals of treatment are. Some are "local" treatments like surgery and radiation therapy, which are used to treat a specific tumor or area of the body. Drug treatments (such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or targeted therapy) are often called "systemic" treatments because they can affect the entire body.’

How it Affects You

Many current cancer treatments are expensive, painful, and have limited success rates depending on the type of cancer involved.

New methods like the molecular jackhammer, which work by vibrating molecules until they break apart the membranes of cancer cells, could offer less costly, more effective, and less painful approaches to treating cancer.

Because they don’t require surgery or other chemicals which have significant side effects, effective non-invasive treatments would be a welcome change for cancer sufferers worldwide.