Next Generation Cancer Treatment Using Lasers and Nanotechnology

Imogen Jones, Year 3

Medical physicist Dr Hadiyah-Nicole Green has developed a revolutionary new cancer treatment that targets a variety of solid tumours with minimal effect on healthy tissues. With 1 in 2 people developing cancer in their lifetime, this ground-breaking research could be life-changing for millions of people worldwide.

Dr Green earned her doctoral degree in physics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. During her early career, Green was a caregiver to her aunt and uncle, both diagnosed with cancer. The loss of her aunt and witnessing her uncle’s suffering during his treatment inspired Green’s future research into a better, less painful approach to cancer treatment.

Green’s idea for applying lasers to cancer research began during an internship at NASA. From there, Green joined a laboratory to investigate these ideas further. The Research resulted in the production of a method to insert gold nanoparticles directly into cancerous cells, without affecting healthy cells around them. These nanoparticles can then be targeted by laser radiation, heating the nanoparticles and subsequently killing the cell. This treatment, named Laser-Activated Nano Therapy (LANT), should have little to no effect on the healthy cells around the cancer, leading to minimal side effects.

Since this development Green was able to begin early trials on mice, which have so far been highly successful. During mice trials, Dr Green’s technique was able to entirely eliminate the cancerous tumour in just 15 days after only one 10-minute treatment. Pictured below are the results of her experiment.

The LANT treatment is now ready to enter human trials. However, Dr Green is determined to keep this treatment affordable and accessible to all. As a result, the funding for human trials is being raised through her non-profit organisation, The Ora Lee Smith foundation, without large pharmaceutical company funding. 

The goal of Dr Green’s research and foundation is to provide an affordable and accessible treatment for cancer. The LANT treatment she developed can be administered as an outpatient procedure with minimal side effects that could revolutionise cancer treatment for many solid tumours, including chemo-resistant or inoperable ones.