Lung cancer is by far the deadliest form of cancers all around the world. Although there are various treatments available like chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy etc., but still lung cancer is responsible for deaths of over 1.8 million people each year worldwide. There have been continuous studies and research works to improve the odds for lung cancer patients. The researchers from The University of Texas at Arlington and UT Southwestern Medical Center have come up with a novel approach to deliver cancer-killing drugs directly into the cancer cells.
The lead author of the study, Kytai T.Nguyen, said, “Our method uses the patient’s oen cellular material as a Trojan horse to transport a targeted drug payload directly to the lung cancer cells.” “The process involves isolating T-cells (a type of immune cell) from the cancer patient and modifying them to express a specific receptor that targets the cancer cells,” he added.
In this study, the team loaded the nanoparticles with anti-cancer drug Cisplatin. They found that the membrane coated nanoparticles accumulated in the parta of the body with the tumors rather than in other parts. This implies that this targeted delivery system was able to reduce the tumor size in the control group. This new personalized approach could pave the way for new era of medicine customized according to each patient’s unqiue characteristics. Also, it has the ability to reduce side effects and improve effectiveness.
This new technique involved isolating the cell membrane from T-cells, loading the membranes with chemotherapy medications and then coating them onto drug-delivery granules. These membrane coated nanoparticles were injected back into the patients and the nanoparticles were directed to the tumor cells with precision. The most advantage of this technique is that it is highly targeted in nature and overcome the limitations of conventional chemotherapy which often lead to determintal side effects.
The information shared in this blog is for educational purposes only.
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