School of Chemistry

Silver drugs?

Researchers at the Universities of Leeds and Bradford have found that particular silver compounds are as toxic to cancer cells as the platinum-based drug Cisplatin, which is widely used to treat a range of cancers.

The crucial difference is that silver is thought to be much less toxic to healthy human cells, and in some cases, can be beneficial. Silver is currently used for its antiseptic and antibiotic properties, in bandages, wound dressings and water purification filters in the third world.

The findings, which have been led by Dr. Charlotte Willans in the School of Chemistry and have been published in Dalton Transactions, have received significant media coverage. Charlotte was interviewed on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, and New Scientist, the Yorkshire Post, the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror have all covered the news.

Over the next 12 months, research will focus on investigating how the compounds damage cancerous cells and also their effects on healthy cells. This will establish whether these silver complexes are in fact less toxic to ordinary human tissue, in addition to aiding the design and development of next-generation compounds that are more effective than Cisplatin without the sever side-effects This work is been carried out in collaboration with Dr. Roger Phillips at the University of Bradford and is funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research.

More details of the work can be found on the University website