A cake with a poisonous filling
American scientists have developed another hidden drug delivery system that disguises them as fat to simplify getting into the tumor. Once there, the active substance begins to suppress tumor growth. The drug also has less toxicity than other modern chemotherapeutic drugs, which significantly reduces the number of side effects from chemotherapy.
The drug is similar to a small molecule of fatty acid, which is a tasty morsel for any tumor, and therefore it allows the molecule to penetrate inside. Then the drug begins to be metabolized and kills cancer cells.
To create a targeting system, scientists have developed a long-chain fatty acid with two binding sites capable of attaching to drugs at each end. The fatty acid and the drugs attached to it are hidden inside human serum albumin (HSA), which carries molecules throughout the body.
Tumor cell receptors recognize fats and proteins carried by HSA and pass them inside. Fast-growing and hungry cancer cells consume nutrients much faster than normal ones. At the moment when cancer cells digest the hidden medicine, they die.
The scientists tested a drug delivery system on mice to transfer paclitaxel, an FDA-approved chemotherapeutic drug. The drug disguised as fat completely destroyed tumors in three types of cancer: osteosarcoma, pancreatic and colorectal cancer.
The scientists also found that with this method of treatment, they could deliver a dose of paclitaxel 20 times more than two other drugs based on it, but even with such a large amount, the experimental drug was 17 times safer than other treatments.
Commonly used low-molecular-weight drugs penetrate tumors and other cells. They are toxic to tumors, but also to people themselves and have serious side effects. In particular, the main side effect limiting the dose of paclitaxel is suppression of bone marrow functions, mainly neutropenia, that is, a decrease in the number of neutrophils in the blood, which leads to an increased risk of infection with bacterial and fungal infections.
The goal of scientists is to maximize the amount of medicine that gets into the tumor bypassing the tissues and cells of the human body. This will allow you to kill the tumor faster, avoiding side effects.
The article by Callmann et. al Antitumor Activity of 1,18-Octadecanedioic Acid-Paclitaxel Complexed with Human Serum Albumin is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Elena Panasyuk, portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru / based on the materials of Northwestern University: 'Trojan horse' anticancer drug disguises itself as fat.