Egyptian-American chemical physicist Mostafa el-Sayed said that he will begin treating cancer patients with gold nanoparticles for the first time once the Health Ministry gives the green light.
El-Sayed added that clinical trials on animals have been concluded and added that the cost of treatment with gold will be less than chemotherapy. Six to seven patients may be treated with an amount of gold that weighs no more than a gold wedding band, he said.
At a press conference on Monday Ashraf Shalaan, the head of the National Research Center, said that the center’s research team held a meeting that was attended by el-Sayed, the research team at the center, Dr.Hussein Khaled, the head of the project research team at the National Cancer Institute and a representative from Misr El Kheir Foundation.
Shalaan said the meeting prepared a report on clinical tests on humans which will be submitted to the Health Ministry for approval to start implementation.
As soon as the ministry's approval is secured, clinical tests on human beings will begin right away at the National Cancer Institute.
Clinical tests on humans go through three phases, the first of which will be applied on highly advanced cases of cancer and lasts three to five years.
El-Sayed has been carrying out his experiments with gold nanoparticles in Egypt and the US.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
