[China Pharmaceutical Network Technology News] Recently, scientists from MIT have developed a magical "patch" that can provide a triple therapy solution combining drugs, genes and phototherapy to effectively attack tumor cells.
Recently, scientists from MIT have developed an adhesive patch that can "stay" on the tumor site before or after surgery. Through specially designed nanospheres and nanorods, this "patch" provides a triple treatment regimen that combines drugs, genes, and phototherapy to effectively attack tumor cells.
Image source: Ella Maru
On July 25th, the results were published online in Nature Materials (impact factor 38.891). The new "patch" developed by MIT scientists represents a new anti-cancer therapy that delivers a small amount of drug directly to the tumor site by topical administration. This "patch" can prevent systemic therapy from triggering. Side effects.
Natalie Artzi, a co-author of the study and a scientist at the MIT Institute of Medical Engineering and Science, said that the use of this triple therapy in tumors is expected to increase the therapeutic effect.
Co-authors Natalie Artzi (middle) and João Conde (right) (Source: MIT)
Traditional therapy: cancer is easy to relapse According to statistics from the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the United States. Surgery is currently the most widely used first-line treatment for colorectal cancer, but may lead to incomplete tumor resection and increased risk of recurrence or metastasis.
In fact, although many patients are able to get rid of cancer for months or years after surgery, up to 50% of cases will relapse. In addition, conventional therapies for preventing tumor recurrence after surgery are not effective in distinguishing between healthy cells and cancer cells, and thus cause serious side effects.
New technology: "Patch" triple therapy
The general approach to cancer treatment is to use a systemic or systemic treatment regimen, such as a chemotherapeutic drug. However, the lack of specificity of anticancer drugs means that undesirable side effects can occur. In addition, only a small fraction of the drug can reach the tumor site. Artzi said: "This prompted us to think about how to develop different treatments, such as exploring how to make advances in materials science, especially nanotechnology, to achieve local, continuous treatment of primary tumors."
In this study, the team of scientists developed a triple-therapy hydrogel patch that allows local treatment of the tumor. This new technology is particularly effective because it not only treats the tumor itself, but also responds to any cells that remain in the tumor after surgery to prevent cancer recurrence or metastasis.
The basic principles behind the “sMD” design (Source: Nature Materials)
3 key points This new "patch" triple therapy specifically includes the following three technical points:
First, this "patch" contains a rod-shaped gold nanorods. This material can be heated by near-infrared radiation for thermal ablation treatment or tumor destruction.
Second, these nanorods are also equipped with chemotherapy drugs. As the nanorods heat up, these drugs are released and target the tumor and its surrounding cells.
In addition, this "patch" also includes spherical gold nanospheres that do not respond to near-infrared radiation. They are used to present RNA or gene therapy to the tumor site in order to silence an important oncogene in colorectal cancer.
Pleasant animal test results Scientists tested the new "patch" technique in a mouse model of colorectal cancer and found that 40% of cancers that did not use this "slice" after tumor resection had recurrence. However, when a "patch" was used after surgery, this combination therapy resulted in complete remission of cancer mice.
In fact, even without the removal of the tumor, the patch alone is sufficient to destroy the tumor. Next, the researchers hope to experiment with this technology in a larger model. They hope to be able to use colonoscopy equipment, on the one hand for cancer diagnosis, and on the other hand for "slices" to the tumor site.
Future application prospects The researchers hypothesized that clinicians could first remove the tumor and then apply the "patch" to the inner surface of the rectum to ensure that no cells cause cancer to recur. As the patch degrades, it will gradually release various therapies.
This technique can also be used as a new adjuvant therapy to shrink tumors before surgery. In addition, unlike existing colorectal cancer surgery, it can also be used in a minimally invasive manner.
Artzi said: "This 'patch' will at least ensure that early cancer patients avoid tumor resection and colectomy. Local use of this therapy can improve the quality of life and treatment of patients." Scientists also said that this technology can Adapt to other cancer cell types and molecular targets associated with disease progression.
