A potential treatment for bone cancer has been developed by a team of researchers at Aston University in the U.K.

The potential treatment is a combination of bioactive glass, which is a group of surface reactive glass-ceramic biomaterials, and gallium. The bioactive glass was created in the Aston University labs by quickly cooling high temperature molten liquids to form the glass. Once formed, the glass was ground and sieved into particles.

The team explained that the bioactive glass served as a filling material capable of bonding to tissue and improving the strength of bones and teeth. Doping the bioactive glass with gallium in the lab, the researchers found, had a 99% success rate of eliminating cancerous cells.

Making this gallium and bioactive glass mixture a success, the team explained, is that gallium is highly toxic. When the cancer cells soaked up the gallium, the chemical element killed the cancer cells and subsequently prevented healthy cells from being affected.

Additionally, the team incubated the bioactive glasses in a simulated body fluid and, following a week of being steeped in this fluid, the team detected the early stages of bone formation.

The researchers noted: “When we observed the glasses, we could see the formation of a layer of amorphous calcium phosphate/hydroxy apatite layer on the surface of the bioactive glass particulates, which indicates bone growth.”

The gallium-doped bioactive glass is detailed in the article, “Multifunctional gallium doped bioactive glasses: a targeted delivery for antineoplastic agents and tissue repair against osteosarcoma,” which appears in the journal Biomedical Materials.

To contact the author of this article, email mdonlon@globalspec.com