A three-drug nanoscale drug delivery system designed for preferential lymphatic uptake for the treatment of metastatic melanoma
A new 3-drug delivery system for cancer treatment, especially metastatic melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, has been developed by researchers. The work has demonstrated that the system may have particular value with cancers like this that often spread through the lymphatic system. It may offer a novel therapeutic option for more effective cancer treatment.
The new technology takes advantage of nanoparticles that can migrate to, and increase the effectiveness of an attack on cancer cells in the body’s lymph nodes. This can also reduce the development of drug resistance and the broader toxicity often associated with this type of chemotherapy.
“Melanoma has a high mortality rate because the lymph nodes tend to act as a haven for cancer cells, and allow them to resist treatment through chemotherapy,” he said. The new OSU research, however, was able to combine 3 anti-cancer drugs at the same time into a nanoparticle delivery system. After injection, these nanoparticles primarily migrated to lymph nodes, acted in a synergistic manner. Laboratory mice treated with this approach all survived.
The therapy caused no apparent side effects, and at least one type of the nanoparticles migrated effectively to distant lymph nodes, where the drugs significantly reduced the number of melanoma cells.
More research with animals, experiments with more aggressive forms of cancer, and eventually human clinical trials will still be needed for any treatment is available for use. This could become an important advance in the treatment of any type of cancer that tends to move through the lymphatic system, Alani said. This includes melanoma, but also breast, head and neck, prostate, pancreatic, lung and gastric cancers.
Up to 80% of melanomas metastasize through the lymphatic system, the researchers said in their report, and the tumor cells even secrete growth factors to further streamline their progress. The enlarged lymphatic vessels “act as a freeway for the metastatic cells to gain access and spread to distal lymph nodes and organs,” they wrote in the study.
The major drawback of existing therapies is the inability to deliver therapeutic concentrations of drugs to the lymphatic system without creating systemic toxicity. Use of drugs one at a time also tends to breed resistance to them. The nanoparticles used to carry these cancer drugs are stable, increase the drug circulation time, and can deliver multiple drugs in a single step to the desired target. http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2015/dec/nanotech-drug-delivery-shows-promise-improved-melanoma-treatment
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168365915302248
Recent Comments