Researchers develop chemotherapy gel to fight breast cancer

Women who undergo surgery for breast cancer followed by radiation therapy often experience breast deformities that can only be corrected through reconstructive surgery.

“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,” said Dr Howard Edington, associate professor of surgery and surgical oncology at the University of Pittsburgh and faculty member at McGowan.

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 women undergoing breast cancer surgery,” said Dr Edington. “With more studies under our belt, we believe this approach could eventually represent an alternative to breast radiation after surgery.”