New Effective Biodegradable Solution for Brain Cancer

One of the biggest issues found during the treatment for brain cancer is how difficult it is to get the chemo drugs through the tightly wound blood vessels of the brain. This is why this new biodegradable ultrasound could make treatment for brain cancer more manageable, with a higher survival rate. The main problem for brain cancer is not the efficacy of the drug in killing the cancer cells but in reaching those cancer cells without harming the patient.

Related article: Novel Technique to Deliver Chemotherapy Drug into Human Brains

A Promising Solution for Enhanced Brain Cancer Treatment

One way to reach the cancer cells with the chemo drugs is through the use of ultrasounds. The blood vessels prevent large, harmful molecules from entering the brain. This mechanism also stops the treatment from flowing in. Ultrasounds shake up the cells enough to create space for the chemo drugs to pass through. Previously existing ultrasounds would be strategically placed around the skull, but they would still cause harm to the tissue. Then biomedical engineer Thanh Nguyen said, “We can avoid all that by using an implanted device.” The perfect solution would be to place the ultrasound device inside the skull. Currently, there is an implantable ultrasound, but it is made up of ceramic, which is a potentially toxic material. Because of its toxicity, it needs to be surgically removed after the treatment is done, and of course, this surgery comes with great risks.

Biodegradable Ultrasound Device Shows Efficacy and Safety in Mouse Trials

Researchers at the University of Connecticut used shattered glycine crystals and spun them with PCL, a biodegradable polymer. With this material, the creation of a useful, safe ultrasound device was possible. This biodegradable ultrasound is as efficient as the ceramic ultrasound without as many risks.

The device was first tested on mice, and the results look promising. The mice were treated with PTX, a strong chemo drug. One group was treated with only PTX, another group with PTX + ceramic ultrasound, and the other mice were treated with PTX + biodegradable ultrasound device. The group of mice that had PTX + biodegradable ultrasound was the most successful one. Also, in a six-month span, the biodegradable implant did not present unwanted effects on the health of the mice. The next step in this research would be to test the efficacy and safety in larger animals.

If this biodegradable implant passes all trials, it would certainly bring hope to more than 24,000 people who are affected by brain cancer every year in the US.

Author

GeneOnline Team