Nanotechnology

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), a division of the National Institutes of Health, has selected Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology as one of seven National Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE). Nanotechnology may hold the key to effective prevention, detection, and treatment of several diseases-- including prostate cancer. Nanotechnology involves research and technology of very tiny particles. These particles are measured in nanometers where one nanometer is equivalent to one-billionth of a meter, or 100,000 times smaller than a strand of human hair. Scientists are now using these particles to develop tiny instruments, known as nanodevices, to combat cancer. Coupled with the new genomic understanding of human cancers, nanodevices may one day be able to detect prostate cancer in humans long before PSA levels begin to rise. Likewise, scientists are working on ways to use nanodevices in humans to administer anticancer drugs directly and painlessly to diseased cells.