nanoparticle treatment can eliminate this

In Spain, pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive types of tumors and is the third cause of death in our country after lung cancer and colorectal cancer. Although it is not one of the most common types of cancer, its high mortality rate is due to late diagnosis and lack of effective treatment. About 80-90% of cases are diagnosed at late stages.

Therefore, the international scientific community is working on various research models in an attempt to find treatments that can combat this aggressive disease, such as the one being conducted University of Massachusetts Amherst and Chan School of Medicine from the same university in the USA were able to demonstrate a new approach to treating pancreatic cancer in mice.

The study, published in the journal Scientific translational medicinereveals the combined effects of a novel nanoparticle drug delivery system that activates an immunological pathway in combination with tumor-targeting agents.

The most common type Pancreatic cancer is a pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) with a relatively low five-year survival rate (13%) and is the third most common cause of cancer death.

One of the biggest obstacles this is the environment surrounding the tumorcharacterized by dense tissue that forms a barrier around the tumor, preventing the formation of blood vessels and preventing the penetration of immune cells.

“Drug delivery is a major challenge due to the complex microenvironment of these tumours, which are notoriously difficult to treat,” he comments. Prabhani AthukoraleAssociate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Massachusetts Amherst and one of the study’s lead authors. Athukorale also points out that this environment prevents immune cells from activating and infiltrating the tumor.

“Pancreatic cancer, unfortunately, does not respond well to most standard treatments, such as chemotherapy or even immunotherapy, which has revolutionized other cancer treatments over the past decade,” explains Marcus Ruschetti, associate professor of molecular, cell and cancer biology. at the University of Massachusetts Chan School of Medicine, and co-author of the study.

Previous studies have shown that two cancer drugs, such as the MEK inhibitor trametinib, can promote the growth of blood vessels, allowing T cells and chemotherapy to penetrate tumors more widely. However, cancer has the ability change for the immune system, making you believe that the tumor is just a group of normal, healthy cells. As a result, inactivated T cells They can’t kill cancer, although they are present in greater numbers.

To combat this, the researchers are aiming to take their own approach. They are focusing on a pathway known as the stimulating interferon gene (STING) pathway, which detects viral infections in the body.

“In case of infectionwe use antitumor immune response “They are very strong to use immunotherapy against the tumor,” says Athukorale.

The scientists also want to activate the TRL4 pathway because it enhances the effects of STING activation. They are using agonists, chemicals that can induce biological responsein this case, by activating immunological pathways. However, penetration of these chemical agents into the tumor microenvironment remains a challenge.

This design also allows both agonists to be packaged together, eliminating the difficulty of mixing them, since they typically behave like water and oil.”This ensures that both are transported simultaneously into the bloodstream.“They reach the same target cell and are taken up together,” says Athukorale.

“We use biocompatible lipid materials to encapsulate drugs that work together, even though they tend to repel each other, and then we use techniques designing to add features that direct them to specific destinations,” he adds.

The synergistic combination of the two agonists with T/P therapy was effective: eight out of nine mice showed tumor necrosis and shrinkage. “Two mice even had a complete response: the tumors completely disappeared, which is quite amazing,” Ruschetti says.We did not observe this in this model.“.

“To move beyond pancreatic cancer to other cancers, we need combination therapies that target both the tumor and the immune system,” he concludes. Therapies for other cancers like PDAC that could emerge from this research include mutations in the colon, lung, liver, and cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer).