From Imaging to Intervention in Cancer

When you think of metals, you might picture coins, jewelry, or toxic elements like lead. But some metals can also save lives. This talk explores how scientists use metals to create cancer medicines. We’ll look at the accidental discovery of platinum drugs like cisplatin and exciting new research using metals such as gold and ruthenium. Discover how these metallodrugs work in the body and how chemists are designing the next generation of treatments.

Cancer cells are the unique and outstanding houses in the neighbourhood. They have different decorations, either inside or at their surface (their external walls), and that is what distinguish them from normal cells. However, when we look by eye at normal and cancer cells it is like in a foggy day, where we can barely see the difference between the houses. Therefore, we cannot tell which one is normal cell and which one is cancer cell. At the Institute of Cancer Therapeutics, we have developed a simple method to identify the cancer cells straightway, with no need for a GPS system. It relies on the ability of our compound to navigate through the neighbouring cells and only becomes light when it reaches the cancer cell. This is because this invisible compound acts on the distinctive decoration of the cancer cell, and then switches the light. This switch of the light allows us to see immediately the cancer cell that is hidden behind the houses, trees or in the middle of the forest.