Researchers at New Haven, Conn.-based Yale School of Medicine developed a tumor-killing injection for the treatment of skin cancer that showed promising results in a mouse model study, according to a Feb. 1 news release.
The injection delivers polymer-based nanoparticles, which bear a chemotherapy agent, into a tumor. The bioadhesive nanoparticles cling to the tumors and remain attached long enough to kill a substantial number of cancer cells. The treatment is intended as an alternative to surgery, which is the therapeutic standard for most common skin cancers.
"They [nanoparticles] accumulate and bind to the tumor matrix, so one single injection lasts for a very long time — the particles stay there and slowly release the compounds. You need that to get rid of the lesion," said Mark Saltzman, PhD, biomedical engineering professor at Yale.
The treatment can be combined with immunotherapy, according to Michael Girardi, MD, lead study author and vice chair of dermatology at Yale Medical School.
"I call the phenomenon 'kill and thrill,' Dr. Girardi said. "You don't want to just kill the cells and leave them there, you want to stimulate the immune system to clean up the mess and also react against cells that might not have been killed directly. So it's a two-pronged attack on the cancer."
Research findings on the injection's efficacy in a mouse model were published in the February edition of PNAS.