Implantable Device Targets Pancreatic Cancer

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The researchers compared two groups of mice carrying transplanted human pancreatic tumors. One group received the drug-delivery implant loaded with the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel, and the other received systemic injections of the same drug for four weeks, which mimics the treatment human patients usually receive.

In mice with the drug-delivery implant, tumor growth slowed, and in some cases tumors shrank. The localized treatment also increased the amount of necrotic tissue (dead cancer cells that are easier to remove surgically). Additionally, by acting as a physical barrier, the film was able to reduce metastasis to nearby organs.

The researchers also found that after four weeks, the concentration of paclitaxel in the tumors of mice with the implanted device was five times greater than in mice that received injections. Also, because there are so few blood vessels in pancreatic tumors, the drug tended to remain there and not spread to nearby organs, preventing toxic effects in healthy tissues.

"This combination of local, timed, and controlled release, coupled with the judicious use of critical compounds, could address the vital problems that pancreatic cancer has provided as obstacles to pharmacological therapy," says Edelman, who is also a member of MIT's Institute for Medical Engineering and Science and the Koch Institute.

"Minimally invasive"

The researchers are now preparing to design a clinical trial for human patients. While they began this project with a focus on pancreatic cancer, they expect that this approach could also be useful in treating other tumors that are difficult to reach, such as tumors of the gastrointestinal tract.

"The greatest benefit of this device is the ability to implant it with minimally invasive procedures so we can give a tool to oncologists and surgeons to reach tumors that otherwise would be difficult to reach," Indolfi says.

"The prospect of a novel delivery platform also opens the door to using a wide range of promising anticancer agents that had encouraging preclinical data but could not make it to patients due to systemic dose-limiting toxicities," Ting says.

The film could also be used as a coating for a stent. Pancreatic cancer patients often suffer from blockage of the bile duct, which interferes with digestion and is very painful. The duct can be reopened with a stent but usually gets blocked again eventually, requiring the patient to have the old stent removed and a new one inserted.

Coating stents with a drug-releasing film could help prevent the cancer cells from spreading into the duct and blocking it again. "We can extend the lifespan of these devices," Indolfi says. "Rather than being replaced every month they could be replaced every six months, or once a year."

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