This is a potentially life-saving update that The Debrief describes to us: researchers from Northwestern University (Illinois, United States) have managed to develop a drug commonly used in chemotherapy and transform it into what they describe as a ‘powerful targeted cancer killer’. 5-fluorouracil has undergone an incredible transformation operation since according to scientists, its potency would be multiplied by 10,000 thanks to their work.
This achievement is detailed in a new study, which reveals how scientists developed the new treatment using a nanostructure known as spherical nucleic acid (SNA), allowing the drug to be woven into strands of DNA instead of being delivered through the bloodstream.
The team explains that its new ANS-based drug shows a remarkable ability to penetrate leukemia cells in particular, with an effectiveness up to 12.5 times greater than that of current therapies. This would make the new drug up to 20,000 times more effective against leukemia cells.
Goodbye side effects
More generally, the team reports that its new ANS-based drug can reduce the rate of cancer progression by 59. At the heart of the Northwestern team’s success is the growing field of structural nanomedicine, which allows researchers to exploit the structure and composition of nanomedicines to direct their interactions with our bodies.
Other treatments of this type are currently in the clinical trial phase, which could augur a promising future in the fight against other diseases. For the moment, treatments are only carried out on animals; the human trial phase will therefore be crucial. “This would result in more effective chemotherapy, better response rates and fewer side effects”says Chad A. Mirkin, director of the study, in a press release. “That’s always the goal of any cancer treatment.”
If chemotherapy usually has so many side effects, it is in particular because the drugs used are poorly soluble and have difficulty dissolving in the blood in order to penetrate the cells. This was the case for classic 5-fluorouracil, but the scientific team had the idea of using ANS to get around the problem and directly incorporate the molecule into the DNA strands.
“Instead of having to force their way into cells, ANS are naturally picked up by these receptors”summarizes Chad A. Mirkin in a press release. A gentle foray that could well lead to a revolution in the fight against cancer and other invasive diseases.
