At the University of Central Florida, Dr. J. Manuel Perez is working on a ``nano-medic,'' a super-tiny entity that would circulate in the body to find a tumor, treat it and report back the results.

It would be a kinder, gentler form of chemotherapy.

``Today, he says, ``a chemotherapy agent is injected in the arm by IV, and it goes not just to the tumor, but also through the whole body. That's why we lose hair, lose our appetite, have nausea. We've always wanted a way to target the chemotherapy to the tumor.''

Perez now creates nano-particles of iron oxide via chemical precipitation, gives them a coating of the chemotherapy agent Taxol and a layer of folic acid and injects millions of the tiny particles into the arm by IV.

The folic acid leads the particles directly to the tumor, which seeks it out for nourishment.

The iron oxide shows up on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diagnosing the tumor and locating it.The Taxol attacks the tumor without harming surrounding healthy tis-sue.

Later, another dose of the iron oxide tells the MRI whether the tumor has shrunk.

``If the Taxol works, you can see the tumor shrinking over time. It could replace biopsies,'' Perez says.

The idea probably needs five to 10 years to win FDA approval, Perez says.

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