A combination therapeutic implant consisting of metal-based nanomedicine reinforced with patient derived blood clotting components reduces localised tumor recurrence post-surgery.
The technology can be used to fabricate a therapeutic kit that can generate this autologous hybrid implant by using simple equipment such as handheld homogenizer and a centrifuge which might be beneficial to marginalised cancer patients.
Surgery and chemotherapy are inevitable in managing solid tumors. However, local recurrence due to residual tumor and systemic toxicity due to drug non-specificity confer these vital modalities inefficient. Nanotechnological tools show promise in reducing toxicity and improving solubility of chemodrugs, but due to their poor tumor bioavailability (<0.7% of injected dose) and rapid clearance by reticulo endothelial system, their progress is deescalated. A key obstacle is also the adsorption of host serum proteins over the surface of nanoparticles termed as ‘protein corona’.
Protein corona has been recently established as a molecular fingerprint of a patient and has been realized to be integrated into the basic design of nanoparticles for a futuristic personalized treatment strategy.
The hybrid fibrin implant quickly bonds with damaged tissue in the residual tumor bed. After closure of the surgical site, localized chemo-phototherapy impeded tumor recurrence through immunogenic cell death (ICD) mediated dendritic cell maturation and T-cell activation.
Scientists at Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali, an autonomous institute of Department of Science and Technology in collaboration with researchers from IIT Ropar, AIIMS Bilaspur and PGIMER Chandigarh have developed and tested an indigenous intra-operative combination treatment consisting of drug and metal-based nanomedicine stabilized by patient derived serum protein corona termed as Nano-Micro-Sera (NMS) and reinforced them into autologous fibrin to aid in the post-surgical management of locally recurrent tumors.
The hybrid fibrin implant quickly bonds with damaged tissue in the residual tumor bed. After closure of the surgical site, localized chemo-phototherapy impeded tumor recurrence through immunogenic cell death (ICD) mediated dendritic cell maturation and T-cell activation.
Although fibrin sealants are commercially available, autologously derived fibrin glue is also utilized favourably during mastectomy, maxillofacial and ophthalmological surgery. Due to its wide acceptance for such clinical procedures, strengthening it further with therapeutic functionality by incorporating NMS is highly warranted.
The autologous hybrid fibrin glue developed by the researchers exhibited remarkable synergy and superior outcomes in suppressing recurrent breast tumors. This host-specific approach published in the journal Nanoscale was meticulously crafted for bedside fabrication using minimal resources.
Considering the large number of patients suffering from solid tumors in India, an affordable methodology for localized post-surgical management will have significant impact in controlling recurrence of primary tumor and thereby affecting the probability for local as well as distant metastasis.
References:
1. Mimansa, Mohammad Adeel Zafar, Dinesh Kumar Verma, Reena Das, Javed Naim Agrewala, and Asifkhan Shanavas. “Shielding against Breast Tumor Relapse with an Autologous Chemo-Photo-Immune Active Nano–Micro-Sera Based Fibrin Implant.” Nanoscale 16, no. 29 (2024): 14006–19. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4nr01076k.
(By Dr. Chahna Desai/MSM)