Researchers have engineered gold-based molecules that target cancer cells and leave healthy cells unharmed, in a critical step towards precision cancer drugs with fewer toxic side effects.
Pre-clinical studies have shown the molecules were up to 24 times more effective at killing cancer cells than the widely used anti-cancer drug cisplatin and were also better at inhibiting tumor growth.
The molecules were also more targeted and selective, making them promising candidates for development into a new class of gold-based drugs that can wipe out the cancer without destroying healthy cells.