Houston Methodist nanomedicine researchers have found a way to tame pancreatic cancer - one of the most aggressive and difficult to treat cancers - by delivering immunotherapy directly into the tumor with a device that is smaller than a grain of rice.
Houston Methodist nanomedicine researchers have found a way to tame pancreatic cancer - one of the most aggressive and difficult to treat cancers - by delivering immunotherapy directly into the tumor with a device that is smaller than a grain of rice.
In a paper recently published in Advanced Science, Houston Methodist Research Institute researchers used an implantable nanofluidic device they invented to deliver CD40 monoclonal antibodies (mAb), a promising immunotherapeutic agent, at a sustained low-dose via the nanofluidic drug-eluting seed (NDES). The result, found in murine models, was tumor reduction at a fourfold lower dosage than traditional systemic immunotherapy treatment.
“One of the most exciting findings was that even though the NDES device was only inserted in one of two tumors in the same animal model, we noted shrinkage in the tumor without the device,” said Corrine Ying Xuan Chua, Ph.D., co-corresponding author and assistant professor of nanomedicine at Houston Methodist Academic Institute. “This means that local treatment with immunotherapy was able to activate the immune response to target other tumors. In fact, one animal model remained tumor-free for the 100-days of continued observation.”
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is frequently diagnosed at advanced stages. In fact, about 85% of patients already have metastatic disease at diagnosis.
Read more at Houston Methodist Research Institute
Image: Houston Methodist Research Institute nanomedicine researchers used an implantable nanofluidic device smaller than a grain of rice to deliver immunotherapy directly into a pancreatic tumor. (Credit: Houston Methodist)
