Scientists at Japan’s RIKEN Pioneering Research Institute have developed an experimental approach that uses carbon monoxide inside cancer cells to trigger the production of a cell-killing compound. Published in Nature Communications, the proof-of-concept study combines a palladium-based catalyst with albumin, a blood protein, to help deliver the catalyst into cells. Researchers detected the anticancer compound in several cancer cell lines but not in the tested non-cancerous cells. In experiments involving liver cancer cells, the locally produced compound damaged the cancer cells. Although the approach could one day support more targeted cancer treatments, it remains at the experimental stage and requires further research before potential clinical use.
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