( Women who undergo surgery for breast ca...)Chemotherapy gel may fight breast cancer and reduce breast deformity

Women who undergo surgery for breast cancer followed by radiation therapy often experience breast deformities that can only be corrected through reconstructive surgery. Researchers at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, in collaboration with bioengineers at Carnegie Mellon University, have developed a polymer-based therapy for breast cancer that could serve as an artificial tissue filler after surgery and a clinically effective therapy. Their findings, based on studies with mice, will be presented at 10:15 a.m., Tuesday, April 25 at the World Congress on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, April 24 to 27, at the Westin Convention Center in Pittsburgh.

"Although radiation therapy is the standard treatment for breast cancer following surgery, it is expensive, time consuming and increases the cosmetic deformity caused by surgery," said Howard D. Edington, M.D., associate professor of surgery and surgical oncology at the University of Pittsburgh and faculty member at McGowan. "We sought to develop a possible alternative to radiation therapy that would not only release chemotherapy slowly to kill the cancerous cells left behind after surgery but that also would fill in the dimples and sometimes quite significant indentations that are common after breast surgery and radiation."

To test their idea, the researchers encapsulated a common breast cancer chemotherapy drug, doxorubicin, in microspheres, or beads, and then mixed them with a gelatin made of a polymer substance. Mice with breast cancer tumors were treated by inserting the gel under the skin next to the mammary gland. The researchers found that they could successfully control the delivery of chemotherapy over a period of 30 days and that the tumors were completely eradicated compared to a control group of mice that were implanted with the gel insert without chemotherapy.

"Through further research and testing, our goal is to develop this into a clinical treatment for wom
'"/>

Source:University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Page: 1 2
Related biology news :

1. Adding Radiation Therapy To Chemotherapy Improves Survival In Patients With High-risk Breast Cancer
2. New Treatment Rivals Chemotherapy For Lymphoma, Study Finds
3. Bevacizumab Combined With Chemotherapy Improves Progression-Free Survival for Patients With Advanced Breast Cancer
4. Chemotherapy temporarily affects the structures of the human brain
5. Learning to fight an adversary that wont stay down
6. Antibiotic might fight HIV-induced neurological problems
7. NYU study reveals how brains immune system fights viral encephalitis
8. Molecular models advance the fight against malaria
9. Molecule that usually protects infection-fighting cells may cause plaque deposits inside arteries
10. Researchers find promising cancer-fighting power of synthetic cell-signaling molecule
11. Agilent Technologies new genome analysis technology set to accelerate Australia fight against mesothelioma