Scientists at Northwestern University have developed an innovative device that delivers drugs to cancer cells left inside the body after a tumor is surgically removed.

The flexible microfilm device is constructed from an FDA-approved material called polymer parylene which can be constructed in any shape and looks like a piece of plastic wrap. The patch-like film is embedded with millions of tiny nanodiamonds loaded with chemotherapy drugs then placed where residual disease cells are present.

Once in place, the semi-porous nanodiamond device is specifically designed to slowly and consistently release chemotherapy over weeks or months rather than administering it in larger single doses as often done in conventional treatment regimens.

The scientists say nanodiamonds are economical to construct and have already been successfully mass-produced for use in other automobile and electronics applications. Plus, nanodiamonds have a versatile architecture which can store a variety of treatments including small molecule, protein, antibody and RNA or DNA-based therapies.

Northwestern’s research team used Doxorubicin, a drug used to treat many forms of cancer, to test their device’s drug delivery capabilities over a one-month period. The test results indicated nanodiamonds effectively delivered the chemotherapy throughout the one-month period and indications are the device is capable of continuing treatments over substantially longer periods of time.

Northwestern’s research team was led by Dean Ho, a member of the Robert H Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center and an assistant professor at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. Dr Ho’s team included scientists from Northwestern University and Shinshu University in Nagano, Japan.

Ho is currently involved with pre-clinical trials of the device. His team is optimistic nanodiamond-embedded parylene devices will improve treatments for future cancer patients by reducing the possible complications and toxic side effects associated with chemotherapy. As Dr Ho said,

“Several surgeons at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine, as well as other medical school and hospitals, are very interested in the device because it is biocompatible and provides such stable and consistent drug release.”

Dean Ho, PhD
Asst Professor, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
Northwestern University

If you’d like to learn more, the team’s research has been published in the October 2, 2008, edition of the journal ACS Nano.

Source: Northwestern University NewsCenter

Related Links: EurekAlert!; ScienceDaily

Tags: adjuvant therapy; biotechnology; minimally invasive; oncology; nanomedicine; nanotechnology; targeted therapy; personalized medicine; pharmaceutical and medical devices

Scientists from The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have successfully mapped a key portion of the telomerase enzyme, a chemical present in over 90 percent of human cancers.

Telomerase has been strongly linked to aging and cancer because of its role in cell division. Previous research has suggested that telomerase may fuel the uncontrolled cell proliferation that leads to tumor growth, but research efforts have been hampered because details about the enzyme’s structure remained a mystery.

To help overcome that hurdle, Wistar’s team used x-ray crystallography to map the three-dimensional structure of telomerase’s active region. The information they’ve discovered will provide important data to researchers developing targeted treatments for many different forms of cancer, as well as others working on anti-aging therapies.

As one Wistar scientist said,

“Telomerase is an ideal target for chemotherapy because it is active in almost all human tumors, but inactive in most normal cells. That means that a drug that deactivates telomerase would likely work against all cancers, with few side effects.”

Emmanuel Skordalakes, PhD
Asst Prof, Wistar Institute Gene Expression and Regulation Program

If you’d like to learn more, this research has been published in the August 31, 2008, online edition of the journal Nature.

Sources: BBC News (UK) and USNews.com

Related Links: Forbes.com; American Federation for Aging Research

Technorati Tags: apoptosis; biochemistry; drug development; oncology; pharmaceutical research; telomeres

Some medical experts are predicting it will soon become common practice to test all colorectal cancers for mutations in the KRAS gene prior to choosing a chemotherapy treatment for each patient.

This change in protocol is based on recent studies which show advanced colorectal cancer patients with mutated KRAS genes in their tumors are unlikely to benefit from chemotherapy with Erbitux® (cetuximab) and a similar drug Vectibix® (panitumumab). It is estimated that 30-40 percent of all colorectal cancers carry mutated forms of KRAS.

Findings presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology indicated that only patients with normal KRAS genes improved their progression-free survival rate using Erbitux®. Erbitux® and Vectibix® are both designed to treat cancer by blocking the activity of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) proteins.

Since commercial tests are already available to test for KRAS mutations and other proven treatments exist for colorectal cancer, oncologists who conduct advance testing could spare many patients the side effects of Erbitux® and Vectibux® treatments that would ultimately prove ineffective in treating their form of cancer. As one doctor not involved with this KRAS research said,

“I believe it is now warranted to test all patients being considered for these agents.”

Gail Eckhardt, MD
University of Colorado Denver

If you’d like to learn more, click here to read the complete article
featured in the June 10, 2008, edition of the NCI Cancer Bulletin.

Source: NCI Cancer Bulletin

Related Links: The Wall Street Journal Health Blog; ascocancerfoundation.org

Technorati Tags: genetic counseling; metastatic cancer; personalized medicine; patient-centered health

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created the first synthetic molecules that can penetrate a cell without killing it. This discovery could change how cancer drugs are delivered to tumors.

In recent years, scientists around the world have been exploring ways to use nanoscale devices to deliver potent oncology drugs and other medicines to specific cells inside the body. Tremendous advances have been made in the field of nanoengineering, but a big problem has plagued tiny drug delivery devices. When cells recognize a foreign object, they wrap themselves around the object and encase it in a small bubble to be excreted later. This biological phenomenon keeps the drug cargo carried inside the devices from reaching the sections of the cell where it would have the most effect.

MIT’s team found that gold nanoparticles coated with alternating bands of two different types of molecules could quickly pass through the protective membranes of cells without harming them while similar nanoparticles coated randomly with the same materials couldn’t. According to MIT, the stripes were the key.

MIT’s innovation could impact more that just drug delivery — it may also help scientists learn more about how peptides and other biological materials enter living cells.

The co-leaders of the project were Francesco Stellacci, an associate professor in MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Darrell Irvine, the Eugene Bell Career Development Associate Professor of Tissue Engineering.

If you’d like to learn more about MIT’s striped nanoparticles, their research is published, in the May 25, 2008, advance online edition of Nature Materials.

Source: MIT News

Related Links: sciencex2.org; National Nanotechnology Initiative

Related Audio: Nanoparticles of a Different Stripe from Technology Review by MIT

Technorati Tags: chemotherapy; cytosol; nanomedicine; nanoscience; targeted therapies

Results from a study at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center indicate metformin, a medication commonly prescribed for type 2 diabetes, may improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatments administered to patients with early breast cancer.

The scientists used information from the MD Anderson Breast Medical Oncology database to identify 2,529 women with early-stage breast cancer who received chemotherapy before surgery. 2,374 of the patients identified were non-diabetic, 87 were diabetics who were taking metformin, and 68 were diabetic, but not taking metformin. The retrospective study tracked pathologic complete response, or the absence of cancer at the time of surgery.

After adjusting for other factors, the MD Anderson team found 3 times as many diabetic patients taking metformin were cancer-free at the time of their surgery than were diabetic patients not taking the drug. Diabetics taking metformin also had an 8% higher rate of pathologic complete responses than non-diabetic patients.

The researchers say they’re excited by the results, but further investigation is needed to understand metformin’s role as a possible anti-tumor agent. As one of the team members said,

“Our next step is to conduct a number of correlative studies to try and further understand its mechanism.”

Ana M Gonzalez-Angulo, MD
Department of Breast Medical Oncology
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Findings from this research were presented on June 2, 2008, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Source: UT MD Anderson Cancer Center Newsroom

Technorati Tags: neoadjuvant; insulin resistance; pathology

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have made two discoveries which may benefit other scientists developing nanotechnologies to treat cancer.

Scientists and engineers around the world are working on designs for nanoscale machines to detect cancer and deliver targeted therapies inside the body. While several promising cancer-fighting nanodevices are already in the works, there’s been a big hurdle to overcome: the body’s immune system.

Microscopic drug-delivery devices need to be able to locate disease cells and dispense their treatment, but the human body’s natural defense mechanisms often locate these foreign objects and attack them before they can get their job done.

The UC/MIT team, which was led by Michael Sailor of UCSD, found they could string together several nanoscale iron oxide balls into a multi-jointed structure three million times smaller than an earthworm. Then they took this new nanoworm device and coated it with a slimy polymer coating containing F3 peptide, a tumor-targeting molecule.

The group’s mice studies showed the multi-ball design produced clearer images in diagnostic scans than single-ball devices, making it easier to see when the nanoworm latches on to a tumor. And the polymer coating helped the nanoworm escape the body’s defense mechanisms for up to 24 hours – long enough to locate cancer and deliver treatment.

While the team is pleased with their breakthroughs to date, they caution that many more studies will be needed to determine if these two new discoveries will work safely in human cancer patients. As the group’s leader said,

“You want it to stay long enough to find the tumors and do the damage, but once it’s done its job, you want it to leave.”

Michael J. Sailor, PhD
Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCSD

If you’d like to learn more about this research, the findings have been published in the April 2008 online edition of the journal Advanced Materials.

Source: ABC News Technology and Science

Related Links: UC San Diego News Center; dosci.org

Technorati Tags: nanomedicine; oncology

Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: ALNY) have discovered a method which makes it possible to deliver powerful RNA interference (RNAi) therapies directly to the precise location where cancer or viral infections are developing.

RNAi therapies are designed to turn on and off disease-causing genes. Early RNAi studies suggest they have potential for treating a variety of diseases, but further research has been difficult because scientists lacked an effective way to safely deliver the drugs to the targeted tissues.

The team from MIT and Alnylam came up with a technique which allows the high speed production of lipid-like molecules, known as lipidoids. These nanoscale lipidoids are capable of delivering customized RNAi drugs directly to malignant or infected cells.

The lipidoids were already successfully tested in mice, rats, and cynomolgus monkeys and the team hopes to test them in human clinical trials within the next few years. As the study’s senior author said,

“RNA interference is a tool that has a lot of people excited, and one reason for the excitement is that we hope it will provide a new method to control almost any gene in your body.”

Dr Daniel Anderson
David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT

If you’d like to learn more about this discovery, the team’s work has been published as the cover story of the April 2008 edition of Nature Biotechnology.

Source: MIT News

Related Link: Technology Review

Technorati Tags: oncology; targeted chemotherapy; nanotechnology; nanomedicine

A study led by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center suggests that tumors with intact P53 genes may respond better to prostate cancer treatments designed to target insulin-like growth factor 1 receptors (IGF-1R).

Fred Hutchinson’s findings could have an important impact on more than a dozen clinical trials currently being conducted to test IGF-1R inhibitors.

Previous research has shown elevated IGF-1R levels increase the risk of prostate cancer, but Fred Hutchinson’s comparison of transgenic mice with intact p53 genes and compromised p53 genes revealed that deleting IGF-1R promoted aggressive prostate cancers in the mice with compromised p53.

Since p53 status was not part of the criteria considered for participants in the inhibitor trials, clinicians administering treatments targeting IGF-IR will need to give this new data careful consideration. As one of the study’s authors said,

“If our predictions hold true, tumor cells with intact p53 may show the best response to therapy targeting the IGF-1R signal, however when p53 is not functioning normally, response to this therapy may not be as expected.”

“We’re all hoping for good results but let’s proceed with caution.”

Norman Greenberg, PhD
Clinical Research Division
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

If you’d like to learn more, the team’s findings have been published in the May 1, 2008, edition of Cancer Research.

Source: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center News

Related Links: womenshealth.gov; American Cancer Society

Technorati Tags: oncology; urology; male cancers; genitourinary carcinoma; Seattle, WA

One of the top cancer treatment facilities in the world is offering you the opportunity to e-mail your questions about cancer to their oncology experts.

The Mayo Clinic web site has a feature called Ask a Cancer Specialist which allows anybody with internet access the chance to ask Mayo’s experienced specialists their tough cancer questions for free – even if they’re not a patient at one of Mayo’s facilities.

If your question is selected, Mayo will publish both the question and the answer on Mayo’s web site. Queries and responses are archived on the web site so other cancer patients and caregivers can benefit from the exchange.

Not all questions get a response, but a lot of good information is circulated in this forum. Alternative medicines, chemobrain, and pancreatic cancer treatments are just a few of the topics Mayo’s doctors have already discussed.

While some cancer support groups and hospitals manage chat rooms which include discussions with health professionals interspersed with messages of encouragement and personal testimonials, Mayo’s Ask a Cancer Specialist site concentrates on medical information alone — a real time saver if you’re short on time and facts are all you need. The clinic also posts the name, photo, title and some background on the physician who provided the response so you’ll know where the information originated.

This type of health tool appears to have a lot of potential value for cancer patients and I’ve looked for similar services from other oncologists, but so far I haven’t found any being updated regularly. If you’ve seen any other high quality sites our readers should know about, please send me an e-mail (Lisa@CancerResearchJournal.com) and I’ll add them to our del.icio.us bookmarks.

Source: CancerResearchJournal.com

Related Links: The New York Times; CNN

Related Podcast: Doctor-Patient Web Visits Spur Privacy Concerns from NPR

Technorati Tags: patient-centered care; eHealth; telemedicine

German physicians have successfully used ovarian tissue implants to restore fertility to a 32-year-old cancer survivor who lost her ability to get pregnant after receiving treatments for anal cancer.

Knowing the tumor’s close proximity to reproductive organs increased the possibility of infertility, doctors at Erlangen University Hospital removed healthy ovarian tissue from the young woman before she began chemotherapy and radiation treatments in 2004.

The patient successfully conquered her cancer, but was left without menstrual cycles for two years. After hormone treatments failed to return the woman’s periods, Erlangen’s doctors re-inserted her own preserved ovarian tissue through her pelvis using an endoscopic procedure.

While the patient is not pregnant yet, menstruation has resumed and the doctors are publishing the information so more cancer patients and oncologists can learn about the technique.

If you’d like to read more, the case is published in the 2008 online edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International.

Source: ScienceDaily

Related Links: EurekAlert! / AAAS; CNN

Related Podcast: Management of Anal Cancer from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)

Technorati Tags: cryopreservation; childbirth; reproductive cancers; female cancers; gynecologic cancer; women’s health