Elegant anti-cancer nanotech from MIT
So glad to see my alma mater joining the club of schools doing beautiful nanotech research against cancer: “Imagine a cancer drug that can burrow into a tumor, seal the exits and detonate a lethal dose of anti-cancer toxins, all while leaving healthy cells unscathed. MIT researchers have designed a nanoparticle to do just that…
“The team loaded the outer membrane of the nanocell with an anti-angiogenic drug and the inner balloon with chemotherapy agents. A ‘stealth’ surface chemistry allows the nanocells to evade the immune system, while their size (200 nanometers) makes them preferentially taken into the tumor. They are small enough to pass through tumor vessels, but too large for the pores of normal vessels.
“Once the nanocell is inside the tumor, its outer membrane disintegrates, rapidly deploying the anti-angiogenic drug. The blood vessels feeding the tumor then collapse, trapping the loaded nanoparticle in the tumor, where it slowly releases the chemotherapy…Eighty percent of the nanocell mice survived beyond 65 days, while mice treated with the best current therapy survived 30 days. Untreated animals died at 20.”
This kind of work is excellent news for those of us who’ve had a relative or good friend go through today’s chemo — which is probably almost everyone reading this.–CP (Credit: Alan Shalleck, Nanoclarity)
August 6th, 2005 at 7:15 AM
If the actual abstract or article itself had been consulted the comments might be “less” positive.
From the abstract:
“The nanocell comprises a nuclear nanoparticle within an extranuclear pegylated-lipid
envelope, and is preferentially taken up by the tumour.”
I do not see any reason that any other rapidly dividing cells should not take up the
‘nanoparticles’ as well. So while the chemotherapeutic agent may have increased
delivery in the tumors — the same would apply to all of the other tissues which
have problems with traditional cancer treatments (intestine, lung, skin, etc.)
The precise therapy which involves an anti-angiogenesis agent as well as a
chemotherapeutic aging (presumably a DNA mutating drug since most chemo drugs
are in this category)… So its still a ‘lets hope we can mutate the DNA enough
that the cells will die’ combined with ‘and then we are going to starve them
for good measure’ strategy.
How is this an improvement? Other than the fact that they got a small multilayered
drug to write about? It could have as well been an announcement for “buffered aspirin”
December 9th, 2005 at 12:00 PM
Robert your wrong on your theory, the outer layer comprised of a drug called Combretastain A4, which is a Vascular Danaging Agent, the drug attaches to endithial cells lining tumor blood vessels not normal vessels and cause the blood vessels in the tumor to shut down and trapping the nano inside the tumor, at which time the chemo drug dissolves from the nano while inside the tumor, if you want to learn more about combretastatin, check Pubmed or Oxigene.com
January 4th, 2006 at 5:58 AM
Sorry to say but I may not agree you when you say “Elegant.” I have my own reason for that.