Dear professionals, Here is a ‘Breakthrough’ for Breast Cancer Drug Delivery.

Until now cancer remains one of the major threats against mankind; however lots of promising researchers and approaches are underway. Pending to reach the overall satisfaction in terms of Treatment, yesterday scientists from IBM and Singapore’s Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) published, what we can call a breakthrough drug-delivery technique, demonstrating the first biodegradable, biocompatible and non-toxic hydrogel that can deliver treatment more efficiently to

people fighting breast cancer.

According to scientists from IBM:

·        Approximately 25% of all breast cancer patients have human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), a specific type of cancerous cell identified in this study that is considered aggressive because it spreads quickly and has a low survival rate. 

·        Treatment of breast cancer varies according to the size, stage and rate of growth, as well as the type of tumor. There are currently three main categories of post-surgery therapies available: hormone blocking therapy, chemotherapy and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) therapy. 

In this dynamic, Connectikpeople has observed that, in the case of antibodies, the drugs are paired with saline and delivered intravenously into the body. Targeting specific cells or proteins, the antibodies block specific cell receptors to destroy cancer cells and suppress tumor growth. However, these drugs are absorbed in the body and have limited lifetimes and effectiveness when injected directly into the bloodstream. 

Recognizing this, IBM and IBN scientists developed a novel synthetic hydrogel made up of over 96% water and a degradable polymer that is capable of sequestering a range of cargos from small molecules to large molecules including mAbs. 

Connectikpeople has also captured many of the biocompatible characteristics of water-soluble polymers, which hold form in the body without completely dissolving. This allows the hydrogel to function as a depot for the drug to slow-release its contents in a targeted location directly at the tumor site over weeks instead of days. Once the drug has been delivered, the hydrogel biodegrades naturally and passes through the body. 

In animal studies done by Singapore’s IBN, testing demonstrated improved results when the antibody was paired and delivered with the hydrogel, even at low concentration, than on its own. 

• Tumor Size: Over the course of 28 days, the tumor shrank 77% when paired with the hydrogel via subcutaneous injection at the tumor site as opposed to 0% without it by intravenous injection.
• Treatment Frequency: When paired with the hydrogel and injected subcutaneously at a site far away from the tumor, the treatment frequency was reduced from 4 to 1 while maintaining a similar therapeutic effect. This is when compared to just the antibody solution formulation injected intravenously,
• Weight: The ability to target and deliver the drug directly at the tumor site allowed for only the infected cells to be eradicated, leaving healthy cells alone. This resulted in stable to moderate weight gain during the study instead of massive weight loss traditionally associated with cancer drug treatments.
• Non-Toxic: Since the hydrogel is non-toxic, it demonstrated high biocompatibility as evidenced by no cellular inflammation with minimal immune system response while degrading naturally and passing through the body within 6 weeks.

Connectikpeople may recall that, the IBM nanomedicine polymer program - which started in IBM's Research labs four years ago with the mission to improve human health, stems from decades of materials development traditionally used for semiconductor technologies. This advance will expand the scope of IBM and the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology’s collaborative program, allowing scientists to simultaneously pursue multiple methods for creating materials to improve medicine and drug discovery. An industry and institute collaboration of this scale brings together the minds and resources of several leading scientific institutions to address the complex challenges in making practical nanomedicine solutions a reality.