Cancer treatments often face a tough challenge: effectively delivering therapeutic agents while minimizing harm to healthy tissue. This patent introduces a carbon–copper nanocomposite that acts both as a drug carrier and as an active agent against cancer, combining two therapeutic functions in a single nanoscale platform. It develops a copper metal–organic framework (Cu-MOF) directly onto carbon materials like graphene, graphdiyne, and hollow carbon spheres. The carbon provides a large surface area that attracts copper ions, while the MOF secures them in place, preventing rapid clearance and toxicity from free metal ions. Fixed copper on the surface remains accessible to hydrogen peroxide, enabling catalytic reactions that produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) to damage cancer cells. Laboratory tests with DU145 prostate cancer cells showed that the graphene–copper composite generated higher intracellular ROS than Cu-MOF alone and reduced cell viability as its concentration increased, indicating a synergistic effect. The platform can also carry traditional cancer drugs; tests with doxorubicin showed that both graphdiyne–copper and hollow-carbon-sphere–copper composites captured nearly all the drug from solution, with around 50% loading efficiency. By integrating drug delivery with ROS production, this invention offers a promising path toward multifunctional nanomedicines that do more than just transport drugs, they may actively contribute to therapy.
Turning a carbon scaffold into a two-in-one cancer-fighting platform
Patent number: CN 115671311 A
Inventor(s): W. Xie et al.
Citation: W. Xie et al., “一种碳-铜金属有机框架纳米复合材料及其制备方法和应用 [Carbon–copper metal-organic-framework nanocomposite material, preparation method and application],” China Patent CN 115671311 A, Feb. 3, 2023.
