Self-Assembling Gold Nanoparticles Use Light to Kill Tumor Cells, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Study

(PhysOrg.com) -- A variety of studies by numerous investigators are demonstrating that gold nanoparticles have real promise as anticancer agents. When irradiated with light, gold nanoparticles become hot quickly, hot enough to generate explosive microbubbles that will kill nearby cancer cells, a physical process known as the photothermal effect.