Chemotherapy and radiation leave behind a toxic trail which can damage healthy tissues. Nanomedicine, on the other hand, is targeted therapy and can evade the immune system by mimicking the body.
Being in the cusp of this exciting phase led Indian researchers and doctors from prestigious schools such as Harvard, Cornell and John Hopkins to come back to India and design nanoparticles which can be loaded to chemo drugs. It's cheaper to develop them in India than abroad. In fact, it's hoped that eventually they will be sold at one-tenth the cost in the US and be made commercially viable within the next 5-6 years.
"These nanoparticles are engineered from chemo drugs that recognise each other in the body where they assemble together like LEGO blocks to become bigger in size. Once they're inside the cancer cells, they dissemble like smart bombs," says Dr Shiladitya Sengupta of Harvard Medical School and co-founder along with renowned scientist Dr Raghunath Mashelkar of Invictus Oncology, a Delhi-based R&D organization.
True to the meaning of Invictus - invincible - already 10 researchers and doctors have hung up their boots in the US to take up the challenge of fighting cancer here. "Nanomedicine is the future form of chemotherapy," says Sengupta. Cancer cells are also being tackled through antibody drug conjugate. Tumour cells express specific proteins, so antibodies which attack just these are being researched, he says.
Research is being carried on Cisplatin, a very potent platinum-based drug used in 70% of cancers but which also causes kidney damage. "We have designed a new molecule where chemicals recognize each other and form ball-like structures which home in to the tumour where the platinum gets to work, lessening damage to surrounding tissues," says Sengupta. New research is also trying to coat nanoparticles with water-soluble polymers so that they act like biological fluid and are masked from the immune system. The company is presently doing animal studies.
Nanoparticles loaded with chemo drugs, such as Doxil and Abraxane (used for breast cancer), are already being used in trials abroad. Studies have found that tumor growth can be delayed, and most importantly, blood vessels altered to only deliver drugs of a certain size. While there are side-effects such as blistering on the hands and feet, compared to the damage that chemotherapy does such as heart damage, these are small, says Sengupta.
Researchers in this field, meanwhile, are living on hope. Monideepa taught cancer biology at Harvard before joining Invictus as associate director, R&D. "I was interested in looking at the gene pool of Indian cancer patients which is unique. We are working on 3-4 different products that can transform cancer therapy." It seems worthwhile. While one treatment of chemotherapy costs over Rs 1 lakh in the US, here, once nanoparticles are developed, the costs could come down to Rs 20,000 approx.
Nanoscience research is happening in academic institutions, says Dr M K Bhan, secretary, Department of Biotechnology. "Nanomedicine will be especially helpful in diagnosis and drug delivery, especially to delicate areas such as the brain and spinal cord," says Bhan. "But toxicology is an important aspect which needs to be researched. If a drug can penetrate so easily, would it damage other tissues? Also, regulatory mechanisms need to be put in place for these drugs."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Nanomedicine: Stealth bombs to target cancer
Dengan url
http://pijitwajah.blogspot.com/2013/01/nanomedicine-stealth-bombs-to-target.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Nanomedicine: Stealth bombs to target cancer
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Nanomedicine: Stealth bombs to target cancer
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar