New Drug Factory Implants Reduce Cancer Tumors In Mice Within Week

Apr, 2022 - By WMR

Researchers demonstrated that advance-stage ovarian and colorectal cancer can be eradicated in mice in a week with treatment that could soon be used in human clinical trials

In medical field treatment of cancerous tumors with anti-cancer drugs is one of difficult tasks that requires right amount of drug reaching the right location. Now researchers at Rice University found a new way to tackle tumors. The team of scientists demonstrated that advance-stage ovarian and colorectal cancer can be eradicated in mice with a new treatment that involves small implants found to deliver constant doses of anti-cancer drug and eradicating ovarian tumor in mice by 100% in only a week.

The researchers described this new technology as drug factory, as the implant keeps on producing compounds required for killing tumor on its own. The implants reportedly contain small beads with size of a pinhead and packed with selective cells covered in a protective shell. As per the team, the cells added inside these beads are engineered to generate a natural compound known as interleukin-2, which is a cytokine making white blood cells fight cancer tumor. The team tested these beads in an experiment where they placed alongside tumors in a peritoneum, which is a membrane that creates lining of the abdominal cavity. The drug factory selectively produced a concentration of interleukin-2 in the tumors.

In experiments conducted on engineered mice, the drug factory again succeeded in destroying the tumors in mice models in only a week. While developing these drug factories, the team carefully used components that are already approved by the FDA. As reported by the team, the new technology can be used for the treatment of other types of cancers by using different cell types in the beads for inducing different immune response. The human clinical trial of these drug factories are expected to begin later in 2022.