Fighting cancer with

quantum dots
BY-
M.H.ANANYA
21951A0508
ADE TECHTALK
Topic learning outcome

Name of the Topic covered Topic Learning Outcome

Fighting cancer with Understanding how quantum dots help in fighting

quantum dots cancer

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INTRODUCTION
 The bits of semiconducting material that are lately brightening the
colors on television screens hold a much greater promise—that
they will extend lives.

 These tiny crystals are far too small to be seen with the naked eye,
measuring just one ten-thousandth the width of a human hair,
which is one reason they’re called quantum dots.

 When you shine a suitable light on such a dot, it becomes

luminous, emitting a very pure color that is determined by its size.

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 SPHERES OF INFLUENCE

 Quantum dots are composed of at

least two types of atoms [red and
blue], typically arranged in a face-
centered cubic lattice, where each
atom’s nearest neighbors are four
atoms of the opposite type
positioned at the vertices of a
regular tetrahedron.

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 The most common form of quantum dot is composed of
cadmium and selenium, but concern over toxic effects has
prompted researchers to replace those with more benign
elements. For medical use in the body, quantum dots must
also be given a biocompatible coating [pale yellow].

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 The quantum dots we’re discussing are engineered from a blend of
elements drawn from groups III and V, or II and VI, of the periodic
table—elements like cadmium, lead, zinc, arsenic, indium,
tellurium, selenium, sulfur, and phosphorus, which are used in
pairs or as alloys. In that way quantum dots are similar to various
optoelectronic devices.

 When exposed to a relatively shortwave light source, quantum dots

absorb some of its energy and reemit light of a longer wavelength
(which is to say, a different color), a process known as
fluorescence.

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 The size of the dots can be finely tuned so that they will give off any
color of the spectrum you might want: The bigger the dot, the longer
the wavelength it emits.

 Blue comes directly from an LED, which illuminates quantum dots that
in turn produce red and green light. Because quantum dots emit very
pure colors, the television pictures they create are particularly vivid,
showing upwards of 50 percent more color range than the average
display.

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DRAWBACK

• One hurdle for this technology has been that quantum dots typically
contain cadmium, a heavy metal that’s extremely toxic. Cadmium
plays the role of a group II element here, often being combined with
the group VI element selenium.

• But cadmium-free quantum dots might also have important uses in

medicine.

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 TO UNDERSTAND HOW QUANTUM DOTS HELP

 To understand how quantum dots might help improve outcomes for

some cancer patients, we need to know a little about how surgeons
treat this disease.

 They typically remove both the malignant tumor and the

surrounding lymphatic vessels and nodes, thus preventing them
from carrying cancer to distant sites in the body. The more lymph
nodes removed in surgery, the lower the risk that cancer will reach
other organs

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 TO UNDERSTAND HOW QUANTUM DOTS HELP

 But the lymphatic vessels and nodes near the tumor may be healthy,
in which case their removal is certainly unnecessary and possibly
harmful.

 So one of the challenges in cancer surgery is to figure out exactly

how much lymphatic tissue to cut out and how much to leave intact.

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 One strategy makes use of the fact that the membranes that surround
cancerous cells are more penetrable and reactive than healthy tissue.

 So surgeons inject the area of the primary tumor with dyes or

radioisotopes. After a few minutes, the surgeon can then determine
which of the surrounding lymphatic tissues are likely to contain cancer
simply by noting the presence of the colored dye or identifying them
with a radiation detector.

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 One strategy makes use of the fact that the membranes that surround
cancerous cells are more penetrable and reactive than healthy tissue.

 So surgeons inject the area of the primary tumor with dyes or

radioisotopes. After a few minutes, the surgeon can then determine
which of the surrounding lymphatic tissues are likely to contain cancer
simply by noting the presence of the colored dye or identifying them
with a radiation detector.

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 The main problem with this approach is that the dyes that are normally
used for this purpose (isosulfan blue or methylene blue) migrate
quickly from the site of injection through the cancer-containing lymph
nodes and on to the entire lymphatic system.

 So surgeons typically take a picture of the tumor and surrounding

areas soon after injection of the dye, before it has migrated very far,
and then operate based on what that picture shows. As you can
imagine, it’s hard to be accurate when you have to refer to memory or
a picture to guide your actions.

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 HERE’S WHERE QUANTUM DOTS COULD HELP

 Unlike organic dyes, quantum dots migrate relatively slowly and can
maintain their ability to fluoresce for many hours. So the surgeon could
perform the procedure based on what the dots reveal in real-time.

 The surgical team would simply inject the quantum dots and then
illuminate the area with either ultraviolet or blue light.,

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 The quantum dots would fluoresce brightly and could do so for the
duration of the operation. They could be engineered to emit light at
whatever wavelength the surgeon desired, be it one that can be seen
directly or one that emits in the infrared, allowing its light to pass
through the skin and fatty tissue.

 The surgeon could take as much time as needed to determine the

locations of sentinel nodes, which would presumably make such
procedures more accurate.

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WHAT EXACTLY ARE THESE MAGICAL QUANTUM DO? TS

 Quantum dots are made up of tiny chunks of semiconducting material,

which typically measure between 2 and 10 nanometers across.

 Because they are so small, their electronic and optical properties are
distinct from those normally associated with whatever material they are
made of.

 They absorb a broad range of wavelengths and then reemit that energy
as light of a very specific wavelength— an ultrapure color.

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 The beauty of quantum dots is that you can tailor their optical
properties simply by changing their size.

 The larger the dot, the redder (longer wavelength) its optical
emissions. For most semiconductors, you have to change their
composition to change their optical properties. No wonder the
engineers making displays are keen to take advantage of quantum
dots.

 The challenge for us then became making quantum dots that don’t
cause any ill effects
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 The cadmium they contain is a huge threat to human health. We
wouldn’t want to allow that cadmium to be released into the
environment, much less be injected into a patient.

 Anticipating that this issue can be overcome, medical researchers

around the globe have been investigating the possible uses of quantum
dots in the body.

 Unlike conventional dyes, quantum dots are less likely to migrate

through the lymphatic system beyond the regional lymph nodes
around the tumor.
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 Soon after Nanoco was established, it began engineering a new type of
quantum dot that is free of cadmium and other toxic heavy metals.

 Clinical trials will have to be carried out to determine whether surgeons

actually remove more cancerous tissue with quantum dots guiding their
decisions, whether that lowers the risk that the cancer will spread, and
whether there will be less need for repeat surgeries.

 In addition to delineating tumors, the quantum dots may have other

important uses in cancer treatment.

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 In particular, physicians may someday be able to use quantum dots to
destroy cancerous tumors in place, because tumors typically absorb and
accumulate nanoparticles faster than do normal healthy tissues, a
phenomenon called enhanced permeability and retention.

 So quantum dots could, in principle, also be used as an integral part of

chemotherapeutic drugs that are preferentially absorbed by a tumor.

 Application of quantum dots to something called photodynamic

therapy, which can be used instead of surgery to treat cancer by killing
malignant cells through exposure to light.

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 For this, physicians first inject special
sensitizing drugs, which are preferentially
taken up by cancerous tissues.

 When light is shone on the tumor, the

sensitizing molecules absorb energy from
the light and cause a toxic form of oxygen
to be produced, which then kills the
surrounding cancerous cells.

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 Special quantum dots could be created to help with such procedures.
The dots would serve to transfer energy from the light to attached
sensitizing molecules, thus enhancing the ability of traditional
photodynamic-therapy drugs to kill malignant cells.

 Cancer treatment is just one of many promising applications for

quantum dots in medicine, but the question that is holding back all
this research is whether it’s safe to use them inside a human being.

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 Injecting substances into the body is never without risk, and quantum
dots have long been a worry in that regard.

 But the elimination of toxic heavy metals and the use of biocompatible
coatings should go a long way in alleviating concerns.

 The most likely problem posed by the quantum dots my is allergic

reaction, an all-too-common phenomenon in medicine.

 Nontoxic quantum dots could begin helping to extend the lives of

cancer patients perhaps just a few short years after that.
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THANK YOU

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