The eradication of advanced-stage ovarian and colorectal cancer in mice as little as six days is an impressive result of an experimental new type of cancer treatment.
The new therapy is only being tested in mice. Human clinical trials could begin by the end of the year, as the early signs are promising.
The treatment involves tiny beads that are implanted into the body and deliver a high dose of a natural compound that is used in the fight against cancer.
Omid Veiseh is a bioengineer from Rice University in Texas.
We were able to eradicate tumors in 100 percent of animals with ovarian cancer and in seven of eight animals with colorectal cancer after determining the correct dose.
The bead-like drug factories were held by Omid Veiseh. Jeff Fitlow is a professor at Rice University.
Although Interleukin-2 is already used in cancer treatment, the problem scientists have is getting it to fight tumors effectively while avoiding dangerously high levels of inflammation elsewhere in the body.
The beads were placed in the peritoneum, a sac-like lining around the abdominal organs. That allows the drugs to target the cancer in a way that doesn't burden the body.
The high concentrations of interleukin-2 in the dose given by these drug factories work because it is focused on the tumor. According to tests, the concentration of the protein in the body seems to be 30 times lower than near the tumor.
The outer cell of each bead is made of hydrogel and protects it from attack. The beads are recognized by the immune system as foreign objects, but not as immediate threats, which allows them to do their work. They can be programmed to turn off.
Veiseh says they found foreign body reactions and turned off the flow of cytokine within 30 days.
The drug factory beads can be used for cancer in other parts of the body, as long as there is a lining where they could be kept, and they can be changed to deliver different types of drugs. It is an innovative system as well as a flexible one.
The drugs that are being used here have already been approved as safe for use in clinical trials, which should speed up the process. The final treatment should be easy to administer.
In this study, we demonstrated that the drug factories allow regulatable local administration of interleukin-2 and eradication of tumors in several mouse models, which is very exciting.
Science Advances has published the research.
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