With the application of nanomedicine, complicated human diseases could be diagnosed at its molecular level and thus patients could take early prevention and diagnosis as well as treatment. Cancer nanotechnology has been widely investigated and implemented in cancer management and therapeutics. Researchers suggested it might bring benefits for diagnosis, treatment and monitoring cancer cells in patients.
Convergence of Chemotherapy and Nanotechnology
Most of anticancer therapeutics are
dissolved in an organic solvent and injected into human bloodstreams.
Chemotherapy damages healthy cells then leads to undesirable side effects like
bone marrow suppression and hair loss.
Cancer nanotechnology is one of
the greatest advanced technology in this industry. Nanoparticles group up
all chemotherapeutic agents and deliver them to the targeted tumor effectively
and less toxicity. Enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) happens
whereby the amount of the drug in the tumor vasculature will increase.Nanoparticles prevent opsonization
in order to sustain blood circulation due to its 100 nm size and tunable
surface properties.
Impact of Nanomedicine, active targeting of nanoparticles
Moving on, the size and its tunable surface
properties are the key points. They do not just allowed the prevention of to
sustain blood circulation, it also allowed nanoparticles to contribute in
detecting and monitoring cancer cells and cancer treatment processes. Nanoparticles
are programmed to target cancerous cells and drug delivery in avoiding
interaction between harmful chemotherapeutic agents and healthy cells.
With
the technique of “drug-polymer blending,” researchers able to separate the drug
molecules from individual units of the polymer, before the units connected into
a polymer nanoparticle. Nanoparticles are developed using hydrophobic
hydrophilic cisplatin and docetaxel. The researchers will then add a tag of
that binds to a molecule called prostate-specific
membrane antigen (PSMA). It reduce the side effects caused by chemotherapy
medicine by allowing nanoparticles to bypass healthy cells. As a result, they
go directly to their target region. Now, drugs are loaded with precise ratio
into particles and the release rate of the drugs after they entered the tumor
cells is under controlled.
Nanotechnology
has already advanced in cancer treatment and detection, changing the typical
cancer treatment pattern. It has made a great impact on selective targeting
cancerous cells, drug delivery, and breaking through limitations of the
conventional chemotherapies. Now, we are able to lower the side effects of the
traditional chemotherapies and substantially increase cancer patients’ survival
rate.
However,
I still think that there are still many outstanding questions to be solved,
saying the risks of using nanotechnology for drug delivery which will be
discussed in another article.
First Mouse Study- Shrinking Tumors
image source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120815142048.htm#.UCwlGRbS9Iw.pinterest
There
is a successful experiment on mice happened in Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In the study of mice, experiment was carried out on ovarian tumours in a mice.
Researchers found that RNAi nanoparticles able to destroy the tumours most
effectively.
The
researchers are now developing new potential targets for ovarian cancer as well
as other types of cancer, including pancreatic cancer. They are further
experimenting the ID4-targeting particles to be functioned as a treatment for
ovarian cancer.
Written By: Team 3 (Wong Houy Shyan)
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