US scientists find new way of treating solid cancer tumours, nanomedicine used to draw immune response

A group of United States scientists have found a new way to treat solid tumours by way of a new nanoparticle. The treatment can work in the cancers of breast, colon, head and neck, they claimed. Wake Forest University School of Medicine's Associate professor of cancer biology, Dr Xin Ming said she used a nanoparticle to deliver a molecule called ARL67156 in mice with colon, head and neck and metastatic breast cancer, which resulted in increased survival and suppressed tumour growth. The study was published online in a journal called Science Translational Medicine. 

Dr Ming said most solid tumours have a poor microenvironment that make them unresponsive to conventional treatments, including immunotherapy. However, the study shows that nanoparticles can be used to treat these difficult tumours. She added that the levels of an energy-carrying molecule called adenosine triphosphate, are high in tumours treated with anti-cancer therapies. They quickly degrade into adenosine. This adosine results in poor treatment response in cancer patients.

However, the nanomedicine suppressed tumour growth and prolonged the survival of the test subject. 

The nanoparticle worked in conjunction with an anti-cancer antibody called PD-1, which is used in immunotherapy. 

The scientists also evaluated the nanomedicine in in-vitro model from patients with colon and breast cancers. It resulted in enhanced tumour cell death. 

She said nanoparticle medicine has a potential for treating human cancers and it may give a fillip to existing treatments. 

With inputs from ANI