Game-Changing Dual Cancer Therapy Completely Eradicates Tumors Without Harsh Side Effects

Cancer Treatment Concept — MIT researchers have developed microparticles for targeted dual therapy at tumor sites, combining chemotherapy and phototherapy to reduce systemic side effects and increase effectiveness. In mouse studies, this approach eliminated tumors and extended survival more than single treatments alone.

Combining phototherapy with chemotherapy may provide a more powerful approach to combat aggressive tumors effectively.

Patients with late-stage cancer often have to endure multiple rounds of different types of treatment, which can cause unwanted side effects and may not always help.

In hopes of expanding the treatment options for those patients,

MIT researchers have designed microparticles that can deliver phototherapy to tumors, along with chemotherapy drugs. At bottom left are particles that carry the drug doxorubicin, and at top right are particles carrying violacein. Credit: Courtesy of Ana Jaklenec, et al

To create a microparticle that could deliver both of these treatments, the researchers combined molybdenum disulfide nanosheets with either doxorubicin, a hydrophilic drug, or violacein, a hydrophobic drug. To make the particles, molybdenum disulfide and the chemotherapeutic are mixed with a polymer called polycaprolactone and then dried into a film that can be pressed into microparticles of different shapes and sizes.

For this study, the researchers created cubic particles with a width of 200 micrometers. Once injected into a tumor site, the particles remain there throughout the treatment. During each treatment cycle, an external near-infrared laser is used to heat up the particles. This laser can penetrate to a depth of a few millimeters to centimeters, with a local effect on the tissue.

“The advantage of this platform is that it can act on demand in a pulsatile manner,” Kanelli says. “You administer it once through an intratumoral injection, and then using an external laser source you can activate the platform, release the drug, and at the same time achieve thermal ablation of the tumor cells.”

To optimize the treatment protocol, the researchers used machine-learning algorithms to figure out the laser power, irradiation time, and concentration of the phototherapeutic agent that would lead to the best outcomes.

That led them to design a laser treatment cycle that lasts for about three minutes. During that time, the particles are heated to about 50 degrees DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c07843

The research was funded by the Bodossaki Foundation, the Onassis Foundation, a Mazumdar-Shaw International Oncology Fellowship, a National Cancer Institute Fellowship, and the Koch Institute Support (core) Grant from the National Cancer Institute.