2023-11-07 07:00:05
A team of researchers has developed a promising treatment for medulloblastoma, a particularly deadly brain cancer, using nanoparticles administered directly into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF, otherwise called liquid (The liquid phase is a state of matter. In this form, the matter is…) cerebrospinal). This innovative approach seems to overcome the major challenges encountered in the treatment of this formidable disease.
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Medulloblastoma is a brain cancer that mainly affects children and spreads quickly through the central nervous system. Traditional treatments have difficulty targeting this disease due to the rapid flow of CSF. To get around this constraint, the research team (Scientific research refers primarily to all the actions undertaken with a view to…) developed (Graph) a treatment using drug-carrying nanoparticles, having succeeded in prolonging significantly the lifespan of the treated mice compared to the control group.
These specially designed nanoparticles deliver a DNA repair inhibitor, talazoparib, directly between the protective CSF membranes, maintaining their presence for up to 21 days. This method, called intrathecal injection, allows for less invasive and more frequent treatments compared to other methods.
One of the remarkable features of this approach is its ability to target tumors in the CSF, a task often complicated by the rapid circulation of fluid through the central nervous system, rapidly eliminating anti-tumor drugs before they can work. . The nanoparticles, developed in Professor Saltzman’s laboratory, exhibit the ability to adhere to tumors, offering a solution to circumvent this problem. With this system, talazoparib, an FDA-approved PARP inhibitor currently used to treat various cancers, is gradually released by these nanoparticles, preventing tumor cells from repairing their DNA, making them more vulnerable to death (Death is the definitive state of a biological organism which ceases to live (even if…).
The difficulty in administering treatment in this area lies in crossing the blood-brain barrier (see our recent article on other research aimed precisely at crossing this barrier). The researchers used here an intrathecal injection technique, in order not to be confronted with this problem while avoiding the need for an injection. direct injection into the brain, the latter being a complex procedure performed only a few times a year. This method is also much less invasive and can be administered without hospitalization, paving the way for more frequent treatments.
In addition to the nanoparticles, the mice also received a dose of oral chemotherapy, temozolomide, creating a therapeutic combination. .) powerful and focused. The results of the study show that mice treated with these nanoparticles lived significantly longer than those receiving therapy without nanoparticles, or than those not treated with nanoparticles. having received no treatment. Additionally, the spread of cancer was significantly reduced in mice treated with the nanoparticles.
The researchers plan to validate their approach in larger animal models before applying it to clinical trials on human patients. Additionally, this method could also be tested on other cancers with a tendency to spread to the brain. This promising advance opens the way to new hopes in the treatment of medulloblastoma and potential solutions for other similar cancers, and demonstrates that nanoparticles have the potential to revolutionize the way we approach these deadly diseases.
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