The Perrier Lab have just published a new study in Angewandte Chemie which shows how polymeric nanotubes can be designed to switch their fluorescence on as they deliver a commercial anticancer drug (doxorubicin), thereby permitting the in-situ visualization of drug release. By this method, we can both treat a cancer tumour and show where the tumour is located. These theranostic systems (from therapeutic and diagnostic) form a new approach to drug delivery.

Read the paper here.