Research Terms
Chemistry of Elements and Compounds Inorganic Chemistry Bioinorganic Chemistry Chemical Synthesis Structural Chemistry Crystallography Magnetism
Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, Fellow; 2002 - present
American Chemical Society, Member; 1982 - present
Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, Member; 1982 - 2002
Too many to list; Universities, workshops, and conferences; 2011
These cerium nanoclusters provide a safer breast cancer therapy by treating hormone-responsive tumors with high cancer-cell selectivity and low toxicity. Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer worldwide, with breast adenocarcinomas accounting for approximately 50–75% of all invasive breast cancer cases. Cisplatin remains the standard treatment for hormonally responsive breast cancer cases, yet it causes severe side effects, including kidney and liver damage, increased risk of infection, hearing loss, and more. Currently, the market lacks equally effective treatments with reduced toxicity profiles. Therefore, there is an urgent need for newer therapies with less side effects that are non-toxic even in high doses and show high selectivity for cancer cells. The global breast cancer market size was estimated at $25.13 billion in 2024 and is predicted to increase from $26.23 billion in 2025 to $38.54 billion by 2034.
Researchers at the University of Florida, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Ioannina, have discovered cerium-oxide nanoclusters to treat hormone-responsive breast tumors with high cancer-cell selectivity and lower toxicity than cisplatin. These clusters exhibit high therapeutic-potential-index (TPI) values and induce apoptotic cell death, indicating a clear safety and efficacy advantage over conventional drugs. Therefore, these clusters have the potential to offer improved patient outcomes and a strong commercial opportunity in the breast cancer market.
Cerium-oxide clusters for safer cancer treatment against human breast adenocarcinoma cells with higher cancer-cell selectivity and low toxicity
These atomically precise cerium-oxide nanoclusters are produced by mixing a cerium salt, an organic carboxylic acid, a mild reducing agent, and a solvent. Then, the mixture is heated for several hours, and the product is isolated from the solution by crystallization. Biological testing shows antiproliferative activity against both hormone-receptor-positive and hormone-receptor-negative breast cancer cells, with a high therapeutic-potential index. These clusters cause far less chromosome damage and meet non-cytotoxic criteria. Additionally, these nanoclusters trigger apoptotic cell death through DNA fragmentation.
This synthetic nanocluster of cerium-oxide outperforms conventional cerium-oxide nanoparticles in reactivity and efficiency. Cerium-oxide is a compound used in chemical and industrial applications ranging from glass polishing to wastewater treatment. The cerium-oxide nanoparticle market is expected to reach $734 million by 2022. This compound takes up to 60 percent of the rare earth metals market. Scientists know that the smaller the cerium-oxide nanoparticle, the greater the range of activity it has. However, because conventional cerium-oxide nanoparticles vary in size, it is difficult to establish size-to-activity relationships and, therefore, difficult to control in chemical reactions. Researchers at the University of Florida have discovered a synthetic process for cerium-oxide that results in cerium-oxide nanoclusters smallest in size and most reactive, but that overcome the control issues in conventional nanoparticles. UF researchers can determine the exact size of these molecules and the ratio of of Ce3+ to Ce4+ which allows for determination of reactivity as a function of exact size and ratio, improving both the reactivity and efficiency compared to traditional nanoparticles. Replacing cerium-oxide nanoparticles with these atomically-precise nanoclusters could increase the efficiency of the various processes that employ them.
Cerium-oxide nanoclusters with improved properties that can be used in chemical and industrial applications ranging from wastewater treatment to chemical mechanical polishing
This synthesis of molecular clusters has superior performance to conventional cerium-oxide nanoparticles. These smaller molecules are more accurate in their applications because they are measurable and reliably controlled. These molecular clusters also overcome the deficiencies of conventional cerium-oxide particles by displaying higher reactivity due to their smaller size. Atomically-precise cerium-oxide nanoclusters provide an important alternative route to ultra-small ceria nanoparticles. Such clusters provide all of the advantages of molecular chemistry in a more controlled manner than conventional cerium-oxide nanoparticles.
