Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP), in Brazil, are testing a technique in mice that combines low-intensity electric current with a formulation containing nanoencapsulated chemotherapy to treat skin cancer.
Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP), in Brazil, are testing a technique in mice that combines low-intensity electric current with a formulation containing nanoencapsulated chemotherapy to treat skin cancer.
Preliminary results of the study were presented in the United States during FAPESP Week Nebraska-Texas, held September 18-22, 2017, in the cities of Lincoln (Nebraska, USA) and Lubbock (Texas, EUA).
“One of the challenges involved in this type of topical treatment is ensuring that the drug penetrates the stratum corneum – the outermost layer of the epidermis, composed mainly of dead cells. It is an important tissue barrier against the entry of microorganisms, but it also makes it more difficult for medicines to penetrate,” explained Renata Fonseca Vianna Lopez, a professor at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto (FCFRP-USP).
Applying a low-intensity unidirectional current is one of the ways to ensure that chemical substances penetrate the skin, pushed into the bloodstream through the electric field using a technique known as iontophoresis.
Read more at Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Image: Methodology developed in Brazil combines low-intensity electric current with a formulation containing nanoencapsulated chemotherapy (image: fibroin film contaning peptide / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo)
