subject: Nanomaterials - a key element for blocking metastasis of malignant tumors Part 2 [print this page] Authors of the drug are- Benny Ofra at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital in Boston and Judah Folkman. Lodamin - the new, slow release version of the drug TNP-470, developed about 20 years ago by researcher Donald Ingebirah who is a researcher in the laboratory of Folkman and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. In clinical trials, TNP-470 suppressed a wide range of different cancers, including metastaznye tumor. However, in 1990. tests were suspended because of adverse neurological effects occurring at high doses received the drug.
Experiments conducted on model cancers in the mice showed that lodamin retains all the positive properties of the drug TNP-470, and at the same time, has no neurotoxicity. Currently, there are several angiogenesis inhibitors, such as Avastin (Avastin), however, unlike lodamina, each of them operates on individual angiogenic factors: eg, the growth of vascular endothelium. In addition, these drugs are used for certain types of tumors and do not provide such a broad action as lodamin.
One of the earlier modifications of TNP-470, kaplostatin, was also developed in the laboratory of Folkman. Ronit Sutch Fenaro attaches to the active center of a long polymer chain, which prevents the overcome of barriers between blood and brain tissue, and thus reduced the neurotoxicity of the drug. Now the drug is undergoing clinical trials, however, unlike lodamina, it must be applied intravenously. Benny used a different approach, prisoedyanyaya two short polymers, polyethylene glycol and polilaktid, to a molecule TNP-470. Experimenting with the length of polymer chains, she found a combination in which the emergence of stable nanoparticle, which is a polymer micelle, the core of which is a drug TNP-470. Polymers, approved for use by the Commission on Food and Drug, protect the active center of the acidic environment in the stomach of man, that you can apply a set of oral medication. Micelles reach the tumor, react with water, open and slowly release the drug.
In clinical tests on mice lodamin has a significant lifetime in the bloodstream, selectively accumulated in tumor tissue, blocked angiogenesis, and significantly inhibited the growth of primary tumors, melanoma and lung cancer. At the same time, the use of effective doses of the drug do not have noticeable side effects. In addition, lodamin accumulate in the liver, without causing its destruction, preventing the development of metastasis in the liver tissue and prolonging the life of the test organisms.
The group's work of Dr. Cheresh, partly funded by the Alliance for the application of nanotechnologies in cancer treatment (Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer) National Institute of Cancer Research, published in the paper "Nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery to tumor vasculature suppresses metastasis", abstracts of which can be found on the website of the magazine.
Nanomaterials - a key element for blocking metastasis of malignant tumors Part 2
