Drug delivery system targets cancer cells
Ebara Corp, of Japan, has developed a new drug delivery system that enhances the efficacy of cancer treatment by delivering medication only to cancer cells.
Ebara Corp, of Japan, has developed a new drug delivery system that enhances the efficacy of cancer treatment by delivering medication only to cancer cells.
The new method can reduce side-effects by decreasing the amount of drugs that enter normal blood vessels and circulate around the body. The manufacturer of pumps and air blowers aims to create a technique for mass-producing cancer medications, possibly in conjunction with a drug-maker.
After the medication is crushed with a laser, the particles are covered with a special substance and processed into capsules 50-1000nm in diameter, the company said. The drug can be precisely delivered to cancer cells through 200nm holes in the walls of blood vessels they help form, because holes in normal blood vessels are too small to admit the capsules.