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Scientists have found a unique approach to kill lymphoma even without the use of the dreaded chemotherapy: using gold nanoparticles instead. This unique technique focuses on the heart of the lymphoma growth, HDL cholesterol, and blocks it by using gold nanoparticles, thus starving the cells to death.

The research was co-authored by C. Shad Thaxton, M.D., and Leo I. Gordon, M.D., both of whom are at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The results were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers found that the gold nanoparticle when hidden within the heart of natural HDL, a preferred food for growth of lymphoma cell, enters the cell and blocks the entrance of the cell, preventing further HDL to enter, thus effectively starving the cancerous lymphoma cell to death.

Lymphoma is a form of blood cancer occurring in the white blood cells of the body. These cells form an integral part of the body's immune system and help combat external infections. In lymphoma, these cancerous cells start growing at an alarming pace with the help of HDL cholesterol acting as a source of nutrient.

The surface of these nanoparticles are spongy in nature so when it is attached to the lymphoma cell, the cholesterol inside the cell gets drawn towards the spongy surface and leaves the lymphoma cell, while the gold core of the nanoparticle prevents further cholesterol from entering the cell.

"This has the potential to eventually become a nontoxic treatment for B-cell lymphoma which does not involve chemotherapy, it's an exciting preliminary finding," Gordon was quoted as saying in Medicalxpress.

"At first I was heavily focused on developing nanoparticles that could remove cholesterol from cells, especially those involved in heart disease. The lymphoma work has broadened this focus to how the HDL nanoparticles impact both the removal and uptake of cholesterol by cells. We discovered the particles are multi taskers," Thaxton said.