Microbubbles help deliver the drug locally to the patient’s body by jumping to the target area to increase the permeability of the tumor’s blood vessels. By temporarily increasing (Effective tool for cancer treatment) the porosity of the blood vessels, the microbubbles may free up space for co-administered anti-cancer drugs, which are more likely to drip into the tumor for treatment.
Naomi Matsuura of the University of Toronto and her team are adjusting microbubbles to become a more effective tool for cancer treatment. By reducing the number of bubbles and filling them immediately with anticancer drugs, the bubbles can reduce the dose of a free drug that is injected and spread into the non-tumor tissue in the body. The result is more targeted treatment and fewer side effects for the patient.
Matsuura will discuss her team’s results in her presentation of “Ultrasound-Stimulated, Charged Bubbles for Cancer” at the 182nd Meeting of the American Acoustical Society at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel. The meeting will take place on May 24 at 11:30 a.m. in the eastern United States.
The team loaded taxanes, a commonly used anti-cancer drug, into bubbles. Because the drug is hydrophobic, it prevents water and easily adheres to the foam, thus preventing leakage in the bloodstream or surrounding tissue until the foam is stimulated by ultrasound. They plan to expand the bubbles to carry other types of drugs, but the drug load is probably lower and less stable to hydrophilic materials.
“We’ve also redesigned the sound wave pattern in a way that makes anti-cancer drugs stronger compared to conventional intravenous drug injections,” Matsuura said.
“If we can combine the short-term effects of immediate drug loading with a much stronger drug effect by adapting existing patient systems, we have the opportunity to influence outcomes in cancer patients in a relatively short period of time. time. “
