Tel Aviv University develops nano-vehicle to deliver chemotherapy treatments on target
Chemotherapy, while an effective cancer treatment, also brings debilitating side effects such as nausea, liver toxicity and a battered immune system.
Now, a new way to deliver this life-saving therapy to cancer patients ― getting straight to the source of the disease - has been invented by Dr. Dan Peer of Tel Aviv University's Department of Cell Research and Immunology and the Center for Nano Science and Nano Technology together with Prof. Rimona Margalit of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Drs. Peer and Margalit have developed a nano-sized vehicle with the ability to deliver chemotherapy drugs directly into cancer cells while avoiding interaction with healthy cells, increasing the efficiency of chemotherapeutic treatment while reducing its side effects.
"The vehicle is very similar to a cluster bomb," explains Dr. Peer. Inside the nano-vehicle itself are tiny particles of chemotherapy drugs. When the delivery vehicle comes into contact with cancer cells, it releases the chemotherapeutic payload directly into the cell. According to Dr. Peer, the nanomedical device can be used to treat many different types of cancer, including lung, blood, colon, breast, ovarian, pancreatic, and even several types of brain cancers.
Their technological breakthrough was recently reported in the journal Biomaterials.
A sweet payload to trick cancer