Hydrogel holds promise for safer anti-cancer drug supply

July 30, 2021 – Ever since cancer drugs were designed, they have been made from plants, animals and microorganisms. But these biological sources for the drugs often break easily before they reach their destination.

To stop this deterioration and avoid side effects, scientists have been looking for a more effective way to deliver and release cancer drugs to tumor sites.

Now researchers have discovered hydrophilic 3D polymers called hydrogels, which are effective systems for drug delivery. Any drug placed in these hydrogels will remain stable.

Imagine taking cancer drugs, therapies, or procedures that do not have side effects like hair loss: this is the future that hydrogels promise.

“Although hydrogels are still in their infancy, they are trendy and are slowly but surely coming onto the market,” says Guillermo De Angulo, MD of KIDZ Medical in Miami. Japan and China are leading the way in using these gels in medicine, he says.

Unlike traditional cancer treatments that target both rapidly dividing cells and healthy cells, “hydrogels allow targeted doses to be given only to the affected areas,” say De Angulo and Ayoola Smith, lecturer at the University of Lagos in Nigeria. Smith specializes in pharmacognosy, the study of medicinal products made from plants and natural sources.

“In order for hydrogels to be used in cancer therapy, they have to respond to the various stimuli at the tumor site,” he says.

Hydrogels not only respond to pH and temperature, but also control the release of cancer drugs by shrinking or swelling, depending on the acidity of the tumor environment.

De Angulo says that hydrogels with this function are able to “improve the delivery mechanism in the area in question”.

“In cases where a tumor resection has been performed, that is, the removal of cancerous tissue with small incisions, hydrogels are applied to these areas to attack cells invisible to the naked eye and also to improve the healing process,” he says.

Based on previous research by Japanese scientists, tumors work by lowering the pH of our bodies from 7.4 to an acidic pH. De Angulo believes these tumor cells use byproducts of cancer metabolism to lower the body’s pH.

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