Toxic glass kills 99% of bone cancer without harming healthy cells

Scientists have demonstrated a new potential treatment for bone cancer. A bioactive glass laced with a toxic metal was able to kill up to 99% of the cancer without harming healthy cells, and could even help regrow healthy bone after.

Osteosarcoma is the most common form of bone cancer, and treatment normally involves surgery to remove the tumor, followed by chemotherapy or radiation therapy to kill off any remaining cancer cells. Even so, it often recurs at the same site, and when it does the prognosis is usually grim.

Now, scientists at Aston University have demonstrated a new method of treating osteosarcoma. It’s based on a material called bioactive glass, which is made up of nanoparticles of glass mixed with metals, and has shown promise in strong, antibacterial dental fillings and bone implants.

This time the metal in question was gallium, which is toxic to cells. Putting that in your bones might sound like a bad idea, but gallium ions are known to enter cells through a particular receptor, which is extremely elevated in cancer. That means the “greedy” cancer cells gobble it up before the healthy bone cells can get to it.

Image source: MAKY.OREL, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.