Washington, Nov. 25 -- : Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh have designed cancer-fighting nanoparticles that co-deliver a chemotherapy drug and a novel immunotherapy.
The new immunotherapy approach silences a gene that the researchers discovered was involved in immunosuppression. When combined with an existing chemotherapy drug and packaged into tiny nanoparticles, the therapy shrunk tumours in mouse colon and pancreatic cancer models. The findings were published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
"There are two innovative aspects of our study: the discovery of a new therapeutic target and a new nanocarrier that is very effective in selective delivery of immunotherapy and chemotherapeutic drugs," said senior author Song Li, ...