A team of researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill has revealed that an implantable device can deliver a particularly
toxic cocktail of drugs directly to pancreatic tumors to stunt their
growth or in some cases, shrink them, all while showing signs that the
rest of the body would be spared toxic side effects.
"We use the device to hit the primary tumor hard," said UNC
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center member Jen Jen Yeh, M.D., who is
also an associate professor in the department of pharmacology and the
UNC School of Medicine department of surgery. "It's an exciting approach
because there is so little systemic toxicity that it leaves room to
administer additional drugs against cancer cells that may have spread in
the rest of the body." The cocktail FOLFIRINOX, a combination of four chemotherapy drugs
that has been shown to shrink tumors or halt their growth in nearly a
third of pancreatic cancer patients. It's one of today's first-line
treatments for pancreatic cancer, but it is not suitable for all
patients due to its degree of toxicity when delivered through the
bloodstream. The new device delivers the
drugs directly to the tumor, providing a viable alternative to sending
this toxic cocktail through the bloodstream, limiting harsh effects
throughout the rest of the body.
"We are striving to get our device into clinical trials within the
next several years," said Joseph M. DeSimone, Chancellor's Eminent
Professor of Chemistry in UNC's College of Arts and Sciences and William
R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at NC
State University. "The prospect of halting tumor growth with our device,
and potentially shrinking tumors, could help more patients qualify for
surgery." Surgically removing a tumor is currently the best chance of
cure for patients with pancreatic cancer, but only 15 percent of
patients have operable tumors.
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