PARIS, March 3. (Benin News) –
Bioengineers from Rice University in the United States have shown they can eradicate advanced ovarian cancer and colorectal cancer in mice in just six days, thanks to a treatment that could be ready for human clinical trials later this year, according to a report in the journal Science Advances.
The researchers used pinhead-sized implantable “drug factories” to continuously deliver high doses of interleukin-2, a natural compound that activates white blood cells to fight cancer. The drug-producing beads can be implanted by minimally invasive surgery. Each contains cells designed to produce interleukin-2 which are enclosed in a protective envelope.
Omid Veiseh, an assistant professor of bioengineering whose lab produced the treatment, says human clinical trials could begin as early as this fall because one of his team’s main design criteria was to help patients with cancer as quickly as possible. The team only chose components that had been shown to be safe for use in humans, and demonstrated the safety of the new treatment in multiple trials.
“We only give it once, but the drug factories keep making the dose every day, where it’s needed, until the cancer is gone,” says Veiseh. Once we determined the right dose, i.e. the number of plants needed, we were able to eradicate the tumors in 100% of the animals with ovarian cancer and in seven out of eight animals with colorectal cancer.
In this study, the researchers placed drug-producing beads next to the tumors and inside the peritoneum, a kind of sac that supports the intestines, ovaries and other abdominal organs. Placement in this cavity concentrated interleukin-2 in tumors and limited exposure elsewhere.
“A major challenge in the field of immunotherapy is to enhance tumor inflammation and antitumor immunity while avoiding systemic side effects of cytokines and other pro-inflammatory drugs,” notes Dr. Amir Jazaeri, co-author of the study and Professor of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine at MD Anderson.
In this study, we demonstrate that ‘drug factories’ enable tunable local delivery of interleukin-2 and tumor eradication in several mouse models, which is very exciting,” he continues. This strongly justifies clinical trials.
Interleukin-2 is a cytokine, a protein that the immune system uses to recognize and fight disease. It’s an FDA-approved cancer treatment, but Amanda Nash, a graduate student in Veiseh’s group and the study’s lead author, notes that factories making the drug elicit a stronger immune response than diets. existing interleukin-2 treatment options because the beads deliver higher concentrations of the protein directly to tumors.
“If you gave the same concentration of the protein through an IV pump, it would be extremely toxic,” Nash says. With drug factories, the concentration we see in other parts of the body, away from the tumor site, is actually lower than what patients have to tolerate with intravenous treatments. The high concentration is only at the tumor level.
Nash notes that the same general approach used in the study could be applied to treating cancers of the pancreas, liver, lung and other organs. Drug factories could be placed next to tumors and inside the linings that surround these and most other organs. And if a different cytokine is needed to target a specific form of cancer, the microspheres can be loaded with engineered cells that produce that immunotherapeutic compound.
The outer shell of the bead protects its cytokine-producing cells from immune attack. The shells are made of materials that the immune system recognizes as foreign bodies but not as immediate threats, and Veiseh’s lab took advantage of this in its design.
“We found that foreign body reactions safely and robustly interrupted the flow of cytokines from the capsules within 30 days,” he continues. We have also shown that we can safely administer a second treatment if needed in the clinic.
Avenge Bio, a Massachusetts company co-founded by Veiseh, licensed the cytokine manufacturing technology from Rice.