Using salt to fight cancer.

ISLAMABAD -- Although scientists continually refine cancer treatments, there is still much room for improvement. A new study, carried out in mice, focuses on salt. The researchers have successfully used sodium chloride nanoparticles to destroy cancer cells. Over the decades, researchers have developed an ever-growing arsenal of drugs to combat cancer. However, many of these drugs are toxic, not only to cancer cells but to healthy tissue. The hunt isstill on to find more effective treatments with fewer negative consequences for the rest of the body. Scientists - many from the University of Georgia, in Athens - are looking to sodium chloride, or salt, in nanoparticle form. Sodium chloride is essential for life, but in the wrong place, it can cause cell death.

To control this, ion channels on the plasma membranes that...