A doctor from the oncology department of Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou Province, looks at patients' CT scan results on April 16, 2020. [Xinhua/Ou Dongqu]
BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhua) — Chinese researchers have developed biodegradable tumor-targeting nanoparticles, which provides a promising therapy for tumor treatment, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
A joint research team with scientists from the CAS developed the tumor-targeting nanoparticles as a combination of tumor-infarction therapy and chemotherapy, said the CAS.
It has long been a challenge for researchers to find a safe and effective therapy for vascular thrombosis. Drugs that induce thrombosis in the tumor vasculature have not resulted in long-term tumor eradication.
The CAS research team developed the nanoparticle, a type of DNA nanorobot that can precisely send the thrombin to the tumor-vessel walls and the tumor stroma, leaving the tumor to "starve to death."
Study results showed that the co-administration of a cytotoxic payload and a protease to elicit vascular infarction in tumors with biodegradable tumor-targeting nanoparticles represented a promising strategy for improving the therapeutic index of coagulation-based tumor therapy.
The study has been published online by the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.
(Source: Xinhua)