Nano
Cancer is the second biggest cause of death in Europe and current treatments remain limited. Anna Demming speaks to Pedro Heredia from the Nanother project, where research developments in the use of nanoparticles may lead to more effective cancer treatments with fewer side effects
Nanotechnology targets cancer
Although cancer treatments have come a long way, even in the past ten years, many patients still suffer intense anxiety over the efficacy of treatments and the severity of potential side effects. The drugs used at present are usually developed to kill fast growing cells indiscriminately and this means healthy cells also fall victim to attack. The resulting vomiting, hair and weight loss, and damage to internal organs add to the trauma of fighting cancer. “The major problem with cancer therapy
at the moment is the unspecificity of cancer treatment,” explains Dr Pedro Heredia coordinator of the Nanother project. Dr Heredia studied for his PhD at the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU in Spain before working as a PostDoc at Imperial College London. He has
since managed
several national projects with more than ten partners. The Nanother project takes its name from
the nanotechnology used and the therapies it aims to develop. The researchers at Nanother are developing polymeric nanoparticles with antibodies attached that specifically target cancer cells. “Several groups have tried to do that but they did not succeed,” says Dr Heredia. “But now the technology allows you to attach the antibodies in a much more efficient manner. So our idea was to try and develop these kinds of tools.” On reaching their target, the nanoparticles can attack the cancerous cells in various
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ways. The researchers at Nanother have investigated a number of approaches, such as loading the nanoparticles with conventional as well as new anticancer drugs. Another approach is the use of RNA interference, where gene
expression in
cancerous cells can be inhibited. “We also try to use different antibodies so we can make the nanoparticle more specific for different types of cancer,” adds Dr Heredia. The nanoparticles can also be used to diagnose cancer cells. “Here we use
therapy by treating the cancer cells with the same nanoparticles used to identify them. This approach typically uses hyperthermia. As well as facilitating magnetic resonance imaging the metallic components in the nanoparticles can cause heating in response to an alternating magnetic field. Heating to 43 °C or 44 °C can kill the cancer cells. The problem with attacking tumours
“We have found new ways of preparing nanoparticles for biomedicine; we have tested both in vitro using cell cultures and in vivo in mice”
nanoparticles which have metallic
components inside. This allows you to see the nanoparticles inside the body using magnetic resonance imaging or other techniques.” In fact part of the Nanother project works to combine diagnosis and
using hyperthermia is that it often only kills the surface cells of the tumour. As a result the researchers at Nanother have begun developing another alternative where a lower heat increase causes the nanoparticle to release an anticancer drug. “That drug could reach the inner cells of the tumour,” says Dr Heredia. The project focuses on breast, colon and
bone cancers. Both breast and colon cancers are very widespread in women and men, respectively. Therapies and the models for research for breast cancer in particular are quite well established but problems remain with respect to secondary effects. “This makes therapies improvable and they need to be improved substantially,” says Dr Heredia. There are fewer incidents of bone cancer but it remains widespread due to metastasis, as Dr Hereedia explains. “When you have a tumour in the liver or your colon or in your breast, when those cells move in the body they, most of the times, end up attaching to the bone and causing damage to the bone.”
Insight Publishers | Projects
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