Universal Journal of Biomedical Engineering 2(3): 41-46, 2014 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/ujbe.2014.020301 Gold Nano Particles (GNPs): An Emerging Solution of Cancer Galib Hashmi, Masudul Haider Imtiaz * , Shahida Rafique Department of Applied Physics, Electronics and Communication Engineering, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh *Corresponding Author: masudul4145@gmail.com Copyright © 2014Horizon Research Publishing: All rights reserved. Abstract Cancer, one of the leading causes that bring confirm death, is the subject of widespread fear and taboos. Although the complete elimination of cancer hasn’t been discovered yet, “the war against cancer” has already been declared worldwide and research works are ongoing for cancer medicines. This paper presents a review on “Gold Nano Particle (GNP)”, a magic bullet which might be the timely solution to bring win against cancer malignancy. GNPs can be used as cancer drug carriers, contrast agent or in target cancer therapy etc. Because cancer cell membrane has Nano size holes, the Nano structure of GNP would help it to enter the cancer cells. It has also the dissolving abilities, so no harm would be done to other parts of the body. By using near infrared LASER, localized heating of GNPs is also possible to destroy cancer cells. Test on rats using GNPs is found successful and the implementation on human is a matter of time. In Vitro and In Vivo observations on GNPs show much promises in near future. Keywords Cancer, Gold Nano Particles (GNPs), In Vitro, In Vivo, Nanotechnology, Target Therapy 1. Introduction According to GLOBOCAN database of International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), WHO, an estimated 14.1 million new cancer cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths occurred in 2012, compare to 12.7 and 7.6 million, respectively, in 2008 [1]. It is feared to raise the cancer cases to 22 million within next two decades. Major cancer deaths due to cancer in 2012 includes: lung cancer (1.59 million), liver (0.745 million), stomach (0.723 million), colorectal (0.649 million), breast (0.521 million) and esophageal cancer (0.40 million) [1]. Cancer is the sixth leading cause of death in Bangladesh; currently about 12 lakh cancer patients have been identified and every year around two lakh new people are being attacked by cancer and 1.5 lakh people die of it. IARC has assessed cancer-related death rate in Bangladesh was 7.5% in 2005 and projected to increase up to 13% by 2030 if immediate preventive and curative actions are not put into practice. In 2013, WHO launched the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of cancer [2], but still there has been no confirm solution how cancer can be cured. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) of US believes that nanotechnology could be the solution to cancer and has launched a plan of actions for achieving this great goal of harnessing power of nanotechnology to create a way to diagnose cancer and to locate and destroy these cancerous cells in the person’s body with the help of nanotechnology [3]. Various nonorganic nanoparticles like Gold Nanoparticles (GNPs), SPIONs (Super Paramagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles) and quantum dots (QDs) could be used as cancer Nano medicine. Of all nanoparticles, GNP hints the most promising future to cure cancer diseases because of its dissolve properties, small size, non-toxicity etc. Special magnetic characteristics are also found in GNPs which can be used to increase heat by MRI or X-Ray machine; those increased heat can be tooled to destroy cancer cells. In Vitro and In Vivo observations on GNPs are ongoing and significant result has been found. This paper reviews these special applications of GNPs in cancer treatments to have a clear insight of the futures of nanoparticle in medical treatment. 2. Background Study (i) Overview of Cancer Treatment: Cancer is a broad class of diseases characterized by out-of-control cell growth. Normal body cells grow, divide, and die in an orderly fashion and much faster in childhood. As the person grows adult, most cells divide only to replace worn-out or dying cells or to repair injuries. Cancer harms the body when damaged cells divide uncontrollably to form lumps or masses of tissue, called tumors. Tumors eventually grow and interfere with the digestive, nervous, and circulatory systems and release hormones that alter body function. Tumors also spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph, grow, invade and destroy other healthy tissues [4]. This process itself is called metastasis, and the result is a serious condition that is very difficult to treat. The series of mutations that alters the behavior of cell individually is presented in Figure1 with a comparison with normal cell growth.