Emerging use of nanoparticles for the therapeutic ablation of urologic malignancies.

Metal nanoshells are a new class of nanoparticle with highly tunable optical properties. Gold nanoshells (GNS) are particularly suitable for use in the surgical arena as their outer shell is composed of a commonly used reduced inert gold. When activated by near infrared light, GNS can raise surrounding temperatures to levels sufficient for cellular ablation. As such, investigators have established both in vitro and in vivo models to examine the role of GNS as a therapeutic modality for the thermal ablation of solid organ tumors.