Hyderabad, April 23: Chemotherapy is one of the most widely used treatments for cancer. It involves single or combination of drugs that prevent cancer cells from dividing and growing. Most cancer patients who have to undergo chemotherapy treatment worry about the associated adverse side effects caused to healthy cells.
By Yogesh Sharma (India Science Wire)
Scientists
have been working to find ways to minimise side effects while maintaining
effectiveness of chemotherapy. A group of Indian researchers have now
developed a hydrogel-based cancer treatment method.
In
conventional chemotherapy, drugs being administered get diffused immediately
resulting in an uncontrolled and unpredictable pattern of drug release. This
burst of drug causes damage to surrounding healthy cells. To overcome this
problem, researchers have developed a superstructure of cyclodextrin and
polyurethane polymer. It acts as a drug depot and releases drug in a slow and
controlled manner, increasing its efficiency.
This
superstructure has been found to be friendly to biological tissues when tested
in animals with anti-cancer drug, paclitaxel. It could treat skin cancers much
better when compared to pure drug as given in chemotherapy. No side effects
were observed in various biochemical parameters and histopathological tests.
“We have designed three generation of hyperbranched structure of polymer using hydrophilic cyclodextrin and wrapped up using hydrophobic polyurethane through grafting. This special architecture handles drug release in a controlled manner. Drug is available for its action even after three days of administration into blood stream as opposed to burst release of drug in conventional chemotherapy,” explained Professor Pralay Maiti of IIT (BHU), who led the research, while speaking to India Science Wire.
कीमोथेरेपी के दुष्प्रà¤ाव को कम कर सकता है नया जैल
Injectable
hydrogel solution once injected inside body turns into solid which enhances its
efficiency by localising at tumour site. The drug and polymer superstructure interact
and the balance between actions of its hydrophilic and hydrophobic layers
ensures slow drug release, researchers said.
“We would like to apply this knowledge for
patient care and have already filed patents. We are also trying to cure other cancers
like breast, colon and other vital organ tumours,” said Prof. Maiti.
The research team included Prof. Pralay Maiti, Aparna Shukla, Akhand Pratap Singh, Tarkeshwar Dubey and Siva Hemalatha from IIT (Banaras Hindu Univetrsity). The results of their research have been published in journal ACS Applied Bio Materials.
