Russian researchers have proposed to deliver the active agent to a lung cancer tumor using a nanoaerosol. The scientists’ work was published in the journal Molecules.
Aerosols are widely used for drug delivery. However, the particle size of the Russian scientists’ new aerosol is an order of magnitude smaller, about 100 nanometers versus a few microns.
The drug solution is placed in a capillary under high voltage. Under the influence of an electric field, liquid droplets fly away, they dry up and move away from each other, getting smaller and smaller. The result is a nanoaerosol, explains one of the researchers, Igor Kanev, a senior researcher at the Laboratory of Theranostics and Nuclear Medicine of the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
When inhaled, the nanoparticles reach the deep areas of the lungs and settle in the alveoli, which are responsible for the flow of oxygen molecules into the bloodstream. They have a weak electrical charge, which scientists have learned to arrange, which allows them to settle in the lungs twice as fast as ordinary particles.
In their experiments on mice with vaccinated tumors, the researchers used bleomycin, a cancer drug that has serious side effects, particularly pulmonary fibrosis. Kanev notes that when using a nanoaerosol, a 100-fold lower concentration of the drug in the blood is sufficient for a similar effect with intraperitoneal administration. This made it possible to reduce the dosage of the drug and thereby reduce the risk of negative consequences – fibrosis was not detected in mice.
When the nanoaerosol was inhaled, the blood bleomycin level reached equilibrium and remained constant throughout the entire therapy session, five hours a day. The researcher emphasized that with intraperitoneal administration, the concentration of the drug reaches a peak, and then falls rapidly. This suggests that patients must undergo prolonged inhalation procedures for successful treatment of lung cancer.
The treatment with the new method was successful. Compared to the control group (untreated), mice that inhaled it had an 82% reduction in tumor growth and a 26% reduction in survival.
Now there are prototypes of the setup for testing on laboratory animals that can be used by a person without special technical training. It is assumed that in its finished form it will be a special face mask, through which an aerosol will be injected from the tubes with a portable device.
Source: Ferra
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