Chemo
***** to
Treat Pancreatic Cancer With Fewer Side Effects
Chemotherapy is typically delivered by IV injection, leading to large amount of the poison reaching the healthy body while tumors don’t get a sufficient dose. Chemotherapy of the pancreas is particularly susceptible to this effect because
Pancreatic tumors are poorly vascularized, absorbing little of the drug compound. At MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital there’s work on an implantable
***** that releases
Chemo ***** right at the site of treatment for
Pancreatic Cancer patients that would have*fewer
Side effects.
The investigators have already tested the
***** on laboratory mice
With Pancreatic cancer, showing that the
***** worked a dozen times better than traditional injections.
It’s made of the commonly used PLGA polymer, or*poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), and has film-like properties. Within the material
Chemo compounds are embedded on one
Side of the *****. The
***** is can be rolled into a cylinder, delivered via a catheter to the treatment*site, and positioned so that it releases the
***** as close to the
Cancer as possible.
From MIT:
The researchers compared two groups of mice carrying transplanted human Pancreatic tumors. One group received the drug-delivery implant loaded With the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel, and the other received systemic injections of the same drug for four weeks, which mimics the treatment human patients usually receive.
In mice With the drug-delivery implant, tumor growth slowed, and in some cases tumors shrank. The localized treatment also increased the amount of necrotic tissue (dead Cancer cells that are easier to remove surgically). Additionally, by acting as a physical barrier, the film was able to reduce metastasis to nearby organs.
The researchers also found that after four weeks, the concentration of paclitaxel in the tumors of mice With the implanted device was five times greater than in mice that received injections. Also, because there are so few blood vessels in Pancreatic tumors, the drug tended to remain there and **t spread to nearby organs, preventing toxic Effects in healthy tissues.
Study in journal*
Biomaterials:
A tunable delivery platform to provide local chemotherapy for pancreatic ductal ade**carci**ma…
Via:*
MIT…
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Chemo ***** to Treat Pancreatic Cancer With Fewer Side Effects appeared first on
Medgadget.
