A novel delivery system that transports gene silencing nanoparticles into tumor cells has been shown to inhibit Ewing's sarcoma in an animal model of the disease.
In this classic "Trojan horse" approach, a protein called transferrin that normally delivers iron into cells is modified to also smuggle into tumor cells siRNA (short interfering RNA) encased in nano-sized sugar polymers. The siRNA was designed to target a specific growth-promoting gene called EWS-FLI1 that's active only in Ewing's sarcoma tumors.