Nanoparticles will come to the rescue with endometrial cancer
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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The possibilities of treating cancer are expanding every year. However, statistics is still disappointing: in every six patients with endometrial cancer, 1-2 cases result in a fatal outcome.
After conducting a new study, scientists told the medical community about the discovered technique that will help cure endometrial cancer - nanotechnology will come to the rescue.
Experiments put on rodents by specialists from a pharmaceutical school at the American University of Iowa showed: special nanoparticles carrying a drug are capable of destroying cancer cells.
Endometrial cancer develops from endometrial cellular structures that lining the uterine cavity. Otherwise, the disease is called " cancer of the body of the uterus." Approximately in 10 patients out of 100 the course of this disease is characterized by a particular aggression - this type of endometrial cancer is called serous adenocarcinoma.
The same inexorable statistics asserts: more than 50% of incidences of aggressive cancer can be detected only after the pathology has spread to other tissues of the body. Approximately 40% of all deaths from endometrial cancer are caused by serous carcinoma.
The author of the project, Professor Ebeid, began his research just with adenocarcinoma - fortunately, the specialists could find the weak side of this terrible disease.
"We took up the solution of a really problematic task - we needed to find all the possible weak spots of a cancerous tumor. And we were able to conduct the first trials of a hypersective medication, whose action is aimed at fighting adenocarcinoma: nanotechnology has come to the rescue, "US scientists say.
Specific technology consists in the well-thought-out supply of essential drugs with carriers such as nanoparticles.
In a cancerous tumor, the network of blood vessels grows very fast - after all, the tumor needs to supply itself with nutrition and oxygen. Professor Ebeid explains that, because of such rapid growth, the vascular network of the tumor is imperfect and differs from its usual hyperpermeability. This allows nanoparticles to penetrate into pathological vessels without problems, carrying with them the necessary medication.
Scientists "loaded" in the nanoparticles chemotherapy drugs such as Paclitexel and Nintedanib, which were supposed to have an anti-cancer effect "from within". These nanoparticles were injected into the veins of rodents. The results surprised: the cancer process decreased in size, and the life expectancy of mice increased.
"We can say that we discovered the vulnerability of serous adenocarcinoma - we were able to first weaken, and then destroy the tumor, using chemotherapy drugs. We have used the term "synthetic lethal situation" - this is a situation in which adequate conditions are provided for the destruction of the tumor, "the researchers say.
Many scientists support the enthusiasm of the authors of the study, speaking of a real breakthrough in the therapy of endometrial cancer of an aggressive type.
The author of the study, Professor Ebeid, published information about the experiment in Nature Nanotechnology.
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