Homing beacon guides chemotherapy drugs directly to the tumor

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The Homing tag that guides chemotherapy drugs directly to the tumor "can kill cancer cells while sparing healthy ones"

  • Chemotherapy often destroys healthy cells, causing unpleasant side effects
  • The injection of a chemical near the tumors guided the drugs to the cancer cells
  • When tested on mice, the chemical reduced tumors and reduced side effects.

By Alexandra Thompson Principal Health Reporter for Mailonline

Published on: 11:55 am EDT, June 12, 2019 | Update: 11:56 am EDT, June 12, 2019

Scientists have created a "reminder tag" that could direct chemotherapy drugs directly to a tumor.

The destruction of healthy cells, as well as cancer cells, is the cause of the common side effects of chemotherapy, such as hair loss.

But a study found that a new gel injected near tumors could direct more powerful drugs to the cancer site.

When it was tested on mice with cancer, the gel helped reduce the size of their tumors while mitigating the side effects of chemotherapy.

Scientists have linked a dye to a gel containing chemicals for chemotherapy drugs. They injected the gel near the tumors of mice with cancer. The gel "guided" the drug to the cancer cells, while sparing the animals in good health. The gel persisted in rodents for 35 days (pictured), which would allow repeated doses of chemotherapy to be administered

Scientists have linked a dye to a gel containing chemicals for chemotherapy drugs. They injected the gel near the tumors of mice with cancer. The gel "guided" the drug to the cancer cells, while sparing the animals in good health. The gel persisted in rodents for 35 days (pictured), which would allow repeated doses of chemotherapy to be administered

The gel contains a compound that can be targeted by certain chemicals, which were related to chemotherapy drugs.

The study was conducted by the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Destroying tumors while sparing healthy cells remains an ongoing challenge for cancer treatment.

Chemotherapy targets fast-growing cells. This includes those found in the hair roots, which can lead to baldness.

It also affects the parts of the stomach and brain that detect toxic substances. This can trigger nausea and vomiting as the body tries to get rid of the "poison".

In the past, scientists have tried to direct chemotherapy drugs to tumors by attaching antibodies that bind to proteins on the surface of cancer cells.

However, less than 1% of the drug reached the tumor.

Why can chemistry not work?

Cancer cells can understand how to resist chemotherapy.

This can happen for several reasons.

Cells that are not killed can mutate and change in response, repair the DNA damaged by the drug or develop a mechanism rendering it unusable.

Therefore, the success of the drugs often relies on the failure of the repair mechanisms of the cancer cell.

Cancer cells can produce hundreds of copies of a particular gene, known as gene amplification, triggering the overproduction of a protein that stops the treatment's effectiveness.

The cancer cells are sometimes able to repel the drug using a molecule called p-glycoprotein.

Since chemotherapy is the first-line treatment, the fact that the therapy is not working is a major concern.

Professor Workman, director of the Institute for Cancer Research, said, "The ability of cancer to adapt, evolve, and become drug-resistant is the cause of the vast majority of deaths due to cancer. disease and the biggest challenge we face in overcoming it. "

The University team of Notre Dame, led by Lei Zou, has therefore tried a different approach using cucurbituril.

Cucurbituril is a synthetic hexagonal receptor capable of capturing certain chemicals in its central cavity.

The team thought that the injection of the receptor and the attachment of the targeted chemicals to the anticancer drugs would further guide the tumor.

The acid content of the tumor would break the link between the drug and the related chemicals, allowing the release of the drug.

To put their hypothesis to the test, the researchers first injected a hydrogel containing cucurbituril under the skin of mice.

They then associated a dye with a chemical that targets cucurbituril to make it easily traceable.

This chemical has been injected into the bloodstream of rodents, the researchers wrote in ACS Central Science.

The results revealed that 4.2% of the dye injected was inside the hydrogel within hours, much better than any other approach.

In the second part of the experiment, the researchers injected the hydrogel next to the animal tumors.

They then treated the mice with doxorubicin, a chemotherapy drug, which was linked to a targeting chemical.

These rodents experienced much slower tumor growth and fewer side effects than animals that had recently received doxorubicin.

And the hydrogel remained in the bodies of the mice for 45 days, according to the results of the study.

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