A partnership between the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Aston University has received funding to develop a minimally invasive injectable paste for cancer treatment and bone regeneration, utilising the cancer-fighting properties of gallium.
The research team has joined the SPARK THE MIDLANDS programme, which provides academic support to advance healthcare research discoveries in the region.
The team from the ROH includes Dr Lucas Souza, Professor Adrian Gardner and Mr Jonathan Stevenson, alongside Professor Richard Martin and Dr Eirini Theodosiou from Aston University.
Together, they will utilise the SPARK programme to develop a pathway for transporting the cancer-killing paste from the laboratory to clinics and hospitals.
If it proves effective in clinical trials, this gallium-doped bioglass paste could be used to treat patients with both primary and metastatic bone cancer.
Dr Lucas Souza, Research Laboratory Manager at The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, said: "Where the global success rate for new ideas making it to clinical trials is less than 5%, SPARK has recorded a project success rate of 62%."
Thanks to this programme, the ROH will have the support to develop a regional pipeline for the translation of ideas for orthopaedic and bone cancer applications to NHS-approved medical use.
Professor Martin added: "Bioactive glass, a filling material which can bond to tissue and improve the strength of bones and teeth, has been combined with gallium to create a potential treatment for bone cancer."
Gallium is highly toxic and we have found that the 'greedy' cancer cells soak it up and self-kill, which prevents healthy cells from being affected.
"Tests in our labs have found that bioactive glasses doped with the metal have a 99% success rate of eliminating cancerous cells and can even regenerate diseased bones."
SPARK THE MIDLANDS is a collaboration between Aston University, the West Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator (WMHTIA) and Forging Ahead.
The programme originated at Stanford University in California and has proven highly impactful in improving the success of innovations making their way from clinical trials to clinical practice.
The programme provides access to specialised knowledge and technical expertise in diagnostic, therapeutic and medical device development, as well as funding sources to support translational efforts.
It also helps provide mentorship and forge networks among researchers, those with technical and specialist knowledge and potential sources of funding.