Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney, Harvard and Henan University have developed a dual-function nanoparticle that both guides surgeons removing glioblastoma tumors and cleans up microscopic cancer cells left behind afterward. The study was published in Science Translational Medicine.
The material is a two-dimensional sheet studded with individually placed platinum atoms. Under near-infrared light it glows during surgery, revealing tumor clusters as small as 44 micrometers — finer than current clinical imaging can detect. After the operation, the same nanoparticles convert the tumor bed's hydrogen peroxide into oxygen while generating heat and reactive molecules that kill remaining cancer cells.
In mice, the treatment produced 100% survival at 60 days, compared with 42 days for surgery alone, with no detectable neurological or motor impairments. Glioblastoma has a five-year human survival rate of only about 7%, largely because stray cells infiltrate healthy brain tissue and evade surgical removal. Researchers caution the work is still in early-stage animal testing and has not yet been tried in humans.