电离设备精确靶向给药有助癌症治疗

  近日，发表于国际杂志Science Translational Medicine上的一项研究报告中，来自弗吉尼亚理工大学（Virginia Tech）的研究人员设计了一种新方法，可以利用抗癌药物来靶向作用肿瘤，相关研究或为开发针对癌症病人的临床疗法提供希望。

  研究者Lissett Bickford表示，这种名为电离子透入疗法的技术可以运输高浓度的化疗药物进入选择性的区域，这就明显减少了损伤健康组织的风险；这种新型技术可以利用电场来促进药物进入肿瘤，其可以直接驱动药物穿过肿瘤，从而使得所有的癌细胞充分暴露于疗法所覆盖的区域，而电场则是由一种植入肿瘤或皮肤中的小型设备所产生的，该设备中就包含有大量的化疗制剂。

  当设备开启后电场就会推动药物进入到肿瘤中，利用携带人类炎性乳腺癌的小鼠模型进行研究，同时结合静脉注射化疗药物的局部电离子透入疗法就可以明显改善小鼠的存活时间，如果结合化疗方法则可使得小鼠存活时间更长。研究者发现，在进行IV期化疗的小鼠机体中如果加入由新型设备介导的局部化疗方法则会增加肿瘤中的药物作用剂量，但血浆中药物的浓度却几乎不会增加，这就意味着新设备化疗法加入后对患者的副作用较小。

  Patrick Dillon教授表示，这种新型技术具有潜在的临床应用价值，我们认为，这种新型药物运输设备的使用将会极大地改善疗法对癌症患者的治疗效果。后期我们还需要进行大量的实验来证明这种新型药物运输设备的可靠性和安全性，研究人员希望有一天这种新型设备可以根本性地改善对癌症患者的治疗，提高患者的存活率。（转化医学网360zhyx.com）

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转化医学网推荐的原文摘要：

Local iontophoretic administration of cytotoxic therapies to solid tumors
Science Translational Medicine DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3009951
James D. Byrne1,2,*, Mohammad N. R. Jajja3,*, Adrian T. O’Neill3, Lissett R. Bickford3, Amanda W. Keeler4, Nabeel Hyder5, Kyle Wagner5, Allison Deal6, Ryan E. Little2, Richard A. Moffitt3, Colleen Stack3,7,8, Meredith Nelson3, Christopher R. Brooks9, William Lee10, J. Chris Luft1,3, Mary E. Napier3, David Darr3, Carey K. Anders3,11, Richard Stack3,8,12, Joel E. Tepper3,5, Andrew Z. Wang3,5, William C. Zamboni3,4, Jen Jen Yeh3,13,14,† and Joseph M. DeSimone1,3,10,14,15,†
Parenteral and oral routes have been the traditional methods of administering cytotoxic agents to cancer patients. Unfortunately, the maximum potential effect of these cytotoxic agents has been limited because of systemic toxicity and poor tumor perfusion. In an attempt to improve the efficacy of cytotoxic agents while mitigating their side effects, we have developed modalities for the localized iontophoretic delivery of cytotoxic agents. These iontophoretic devices were designed to be implanted proximal to the tumor with external control of power and drug flow. Three distinct orthotopic mouse models of cancer and a canine model were evaluated for device efficacy and toxicity. Orthotopic patient-derived pancreatic cancer xenografts treated biweekly with gemcitabine via the device for 7 weeks experienced a mean log2 fold change in tumor volume of –0.8 compared to a mean log2 fold change in tumor volume of 1.1 for intravenous (IV) gemcitabine, 3.0 for IV saline, and 2.6 for device saline groups. The weekly coadministration of systemic cisplatin therapy and transdermal device cisplatin therapy significantly increased tumor growth inhibition and doubled the survival in two aggressive orthotopic models of breast cancer. The addition of radiotherapy to this treatment further extended survival. Device delivery of gemcitabine in dogs resulted in more than 7-fold difference in local drug concentrations and 25-fold lower systemic drug levels than the IV treatment. Overall, these devices have potential paradigm shifting implications for the treatment of pancreatic, breast, and other solid tumors.