There is something new that could change the fate of those fighting pancreatic cancer: a nanotechnological device smaller than a grain of rice, capable of delivering drugs directly "targeting" the tumor. It was developed by nanomedicine experts from the Houston Methodist Academic Institute.
A miniature behemoth with ripple effects
The device, called Nanofluidic Drug-Eluting Seed (NDES), delivers low-dose immunotherapy in the form of CD40 monoclonal antibodies (mAb). The results in mice show a dramatic reduction in pancreatic cancer, achieved with one dose of the drug reduced by four times compared to traditional treatments.
Corrine Ying Xuan Chua, one of the authors of the study, revealed another surprising aspect: “Although the NDES device was inserted into only one of the two tumors of the same animal model, we noticed a tumor reduction in the other one as well. This means that local treatment with immunotherapy activated the immune response to target other tumors. In fact, one animal model remained tumor-free for all 100 observation days of the study.”
Pancreatic cancer: fewer side effects and more health
By acting directly on the tumor, NDES protects the body from exposure to the powerful anticancer drug and reduces side effects. Alessandro Grattoni, Italian scientist Professor of Nanomedicine and co-author of the study, declares: “Our goal is to transform the way cancer is treated. We see this device as an effective and minimally invasive approach to penetrate pancreatic cancer and enable more targeted therapy with fewer drugs.”
Thanks to devices like the NDES, the fight against pancreatic cancer could take a decidedly more positive turn. A tiny, but powerful weapon that could revolutionize the way we deal with this terrible disease. The results of this study were published in the journal Advanced Science: I'll link them here.
