{"id":26217,"date":"2022-11-25T19:58:38","date_gmt":"2022-11-25T20:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/?p=26217"},"modified":"2022-11-25T21:42:53","modified_gmt":"2022-11-25T21:42:53","slug":"potential-cancer-breakthrough-as-scientists-develop-nanodrug-that-delivers-chemo-to-tumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/2022\/11\/25\/potential-cancer-breakthrough-as-scientists-develop-nanodrug-that-delivers-chemo-to-tumors\/","title":{"rendered":"Potential cancer breakthrough as scientists develop &#039;nanodrug&#039; that delivers chemo to tumors\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Scientists develop &#8216;nanodrug&#8217; that&#8217;s 50,000 TIMES smaller than an ant and delivers chemo directly to tumors<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"mol-bullets-with-font\">\n<li class><strong>It uses nanoparticles not visible to the human eye to transport chemo drugs<\/strong><\/li>\n<li class><strong>Researchers also created a new immunotherapy which helps cut down tumors&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n<li class><strong>The therapy is yet to be tested in humans, but mice results show &#8216;great potential&#8217;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"author-section byline-plain\">By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/home\/search.html?s=&amp;authornamef=Caitlin+Tilley,+Health+Reporter+For+Dailymail.Com\" class=\"author\" rel=\"nofollow\">Caitlin Tilley, Health Reporter For Dailymail.Com<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"byline-section\"><span class=\"article-timestamp article-timestamp-published\"> <span class=\"article-timestamp-label\">Published:<\/span>  14:24 EST, 25 November 2022 <\/span> | <span class=\"article-timestamp article-timestamp-updated\"> <span class=\"article-timestamp-label\">Updated:<\/span>  14:26 EST, 25 November 2022 <\/span> <\/p>\n<div class=\"adHolder column-content cleared\">\n<div id=\"para_top\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Scientists have developed a cancer therapy that is 50,000 times smaller than an ant \u2014 in what they hope is a breakthrough.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">It uses nanocarriers, microscopic particles which are not visible to the human eye, to deliver a new immunotherapy and existing chemo drugs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh hope the therapy will mitigate some of the side effects associated with traditional cancer treatments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The new therapy works by halting the production of an immune protein that is suppressed in cancer patients and allows tumors to grow and spread.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">It also provides an ultra-targeted dose of chemotherapy directly to the cancer through a swarm of nanoparticles which latch onto the tumor itself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Chemo works by killing fast-growing cancer cells, but&nbsp;often mistakenly attacks normal cells elsewhere in the body, causing harsh side effects.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">This lack of specificity also means chemo can leave cancer cells behind, which begin to multiply again and may lead to a relapse.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In a study on mice with colon and pancreatic cancer, the therapy &#8216;dramatically&#8217; reduced tumor size.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Dr Song Li,&nbsp;Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, said: &#8216;There are two innovative aspects of our study: the discovery of a new therapeutic target and a new nanocarrier that is very effective in selective delivery of immunotherapy and chemotherapeutic drugs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;I am excited about this research because it\u2019s highly translational.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-49e33e71d949ca92\" src=\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/64945073-11467371-image-a-2_1669403151943.jpg\" height=\"381\" width=\"634\" alt=\"\" class=\"nothing\" \/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;We don\u2019t know yet whether our approach works in patients, but our findings suggest that there is a lot of potential.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In the study, published in&nbsp;<a class rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41565-022-01266-2\">Nature Nanotechnology<\/a>, the Pittsburgh team developed a new immunotherapy called siRNA which shuts down a protein called Xkr8.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In people with cancer, chemotherapy causes little molecules known as lipid phosphatidylserines (PS) to move from the inner layer of tumor cell membranes to the cell surface.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">PS functions as an immunosuppressant on the surface, shielding lingering cancer cells from the immune system.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Xkr8 is a gene responsible for this process, the Pitt team found in separate research last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The nanotherapy works in two ways &#8211; by shutting down Xkr8 and then delivering chemo directly to the tumor.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">When tested in mice, those given the tiny therapy produced more cancer-fighting T cells and less immunosuppressing T cells than animals given placebos or the chemotherapy on its own.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In turn, mice who received both the chemo and immunotherapy showed a significant decrease in tumor size compared to mice who only got a single therapy. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"adHolder watermark\" id=\"inread_player\"><span class=\"mol-ads-label-container\"><span class=\"mol-ads-label\">Advertisement<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div id=\"external-source-links\" class=\"item\" data-track-module=\"am-external-links^external-links\">\n  <span>Read more:<\/span>\n  <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scientists develop &#8216;nanodrug&#8217; that&#8217;s 50,000 TIMES smaller than an ant and delivers chemo directly to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26217"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26217"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26220,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26217\/revisions\/26220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}