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A peer-reviewed study has indicated that a new cancer drug being developed by scientists at Tel Aviv University could increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy and immunotherapy in treating cancer.
The new drug is the world’s first nanoparticle RNA based treatment. The study, published by the scientific journal Advanced Materials, showed that the new drug had shown positive benefits in initial mice and in vitro studies. The research team are hoping to begin human trials after these tests proved successful.
Dr. Seok-Beom Yong, a member of the Tel Aviv based research team, explained that “chemo-immunotherapy is the most promising anti-cancer strategy today, and this development could make it more viable”. Chemo-immunotherapy, the combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, has been regarded as a treatment with huge potential for battling specific forms of cancer, despite the practice being so new.
Professor Dan Peer, Vice President for research and development at Tel Aviv University, stated that some cancer patients do not respond to current chemo-immunotherapy as the delivery of the medicine is not targeted to precise areas. However, the new drug, which uses nanoparticles to release its contents at specific cells, ensures that immunotherapy is delivered to the immune system cells where needed and chemotherapy is delivered to cancer cells, therefore improving the success of chemo-immunotherapy.
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