Lung Cancer Treatment: Inhalation delivery method

Inhaled medications: more effective treatment of lung cancer

WordScience based on materials from Oregon State University: Research offers promising new approach to treatment of lung cancerThe American Cancer Society estimates that 27 percent of all deaths in the United States in 2013 were due to lung cancer.

This disease is by far the worst cause of death. The main problem of lung cancer treatment is the delivery of toxic chemotherapeutic drugs to the lungs.

The new system of drug administration allows drugs to be delivered by inhalation, thereby delivering drugs to where they are needed, while reducing the harmful effects on other organs. The new treatment method, developed by researchers from the University of Oregon (OSU), Rutgers University and the New Jersey Cancer Institute, uses nanoparticles as a carrier of anticancer drugs into the lungs. These "nanostructured lipid nanocarriers" easily attach to cancer cells. Their sizes are so small that they can be easily inhaled.

Also as a payload of chemotherapeutic drugs, nanoparticles also carry small interfering RNAs (si-RNAs). This molecule helps to control and suppress certain genes and makes cancer cells more vulnerable, helping to eliminate resistance as a "pump" where drugs have not hit before.

"Lung damage is usually not localized, which makes chemotherapy an important part of treatment," said Oleg Taratula, an assistant professor at OSU College. "Nevertheless, the drugs used are toxic and can cause organ damage and severe side effects if administered intravenously."

Inhaling chemotherapeutic drugs also ensures that they arrive in a more intact form than intravenously administered ones, which tend to accumulate in the liver, kidneys and spleen before they reach the cancerous tumor. In studies using inhalation, the effectiveness of the drug increased from 23 percent to 83 percent.

"The inhaled drug delivery system is a more effective approach focused only on cancer cells," Taratula said. "Other approaches only seek to suppress the tumor, but this system represents its elimination." Researchers have applied for a patent for inhalation technology, because experiments are no longer required before proceeding to clinical trials on humans.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru28.05.2013