But in dozens of university labs and spin-off companies throughout the Triangle, the phrase "science fiction" might be a better fit.

Behind these doors, scientists are spending millions of dollars to engineer tiny particles that deliver drugs to cancerous cells.

Carbon atoms are used to form tubes that are far thinner than a human hair. The tubes will be used to capture detailed moving X-ray images of organs inside the body from multiple angles.

And work is being done to create tiny magnetic particles that can be re-arranged inside the body to distribute drugs or help with the imaging of tumors.

The common thread in these projects -- and dozens more throughout the country -- is nanotechnology. Researchers expect these tiniest of particles to soon have a big effect on cancer research.

"I think we are much closer than people would have thought even two years ago," said Rudolph Juliano, a faculty member at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at UNC-Chapel Hill. "We really are getting close."

Joe DeSimone, who has a joint professorship at UNC-CH and N.C. State University, said he hopes his technology to deliver drugs to specific cells will begin clinical trials in about 14 months.

UNC-CH materials science professor Otto Zhou, whose work involves carbon nanotubes, thinks that a company he co-founded will produce new imaging devices for humans in less than two years. He says it has the potential to replace conventional X-rays.

The products of Zhou, DeSimone and other scientists are closer to market in part because of an alliance begun three years ago by the National Cancer Institute. Looking for a way to capitalize on nanotechnology's potential in cancer research, the institute brought together university scientists and private companies from across the country.

Eight nanotechnology centers were brought into the alliance, including the Lineberger Center, with the promise of as much as $144 million in grants over five years.

Lineberger's first grant, for $3.9 million, is helping to pay for six projects, including work by DeSimone and Zhou.

Making no promises, yet

Knowing that countless patients and families want a cure for cancer today, those involved aren't making promises. Moving an idea from the lab to full-scale production will be difficult.

In addition, studies have indicated that some nanomaterials can be toxic in certain quantities.

But the National Cancer Institute has made its intentions known with an ambitious goal: It wants to eliminate "suffering and death due to cancer by 2015."

As small as atoms

Its leaders think the key to meeting that goal is nanotechnology -- a science more common to engineering.

"We've reached a lot of barriers in the development of new drugs and new treatments for cancer that can't be overcome with current technologies," said the institute's deputy director, Anna Barker. "Nanotechnology has enormous promise."

Much of that promise stems from the unique nature of nanoparticles.

Though a nanometer is often described as one-billionth of a meter, it is perhaps easier to understand in concept.

Researchers who work with nanoparticles are controlling matter as small as molecules, or even atoms.

At that size, even a cell is rather large. It is something that can be targeted, and in the case of a cancerous cell, destroyed.

Physics also dictates that particles this size behave differently than larger materials.

Researchers understood what this might mean in theory for medical research.

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