Researchers from Tel Aviv University proved that a drug delivery system based on lipid nanoparticles can utilize RNA to overcome resistance to both chemotherapy and immunotherapy in cancer treatments. The study opens a new path to a personalized and precisely targeted battle against cancer. The results were published in the scientific journalThe study was led by TAU Vice President for R&D Prof.
Chemo-immunotherapy, which combines chemotherapy with immunotherapy, is considered the most advanced standard of care for various types of cancer. While chemotherapy destroys, immunotherapy encourages the cells of the immune system to identify and attack the remaining cancer cells. However, many patients fail to respond to chemo-immunotherapy, which means that the treatment is not sufficiently targeted. Prof.
based on lipid nanoparticles that release their load only at the specifically targeted cells—cancer cells for chemotherapy and immune cells for immunotherapy."In our system a single nanoparticle is capable of operating in two different arenas," explains Prof. Peer."It increases the sensitivity of cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy, while also reinvigorating immune cells and increasing their sensitivity to cancer cells.
The new development by Prof. Peer's team builds from another recent discovery: an enzyme called HO1 is used by cancer cells for both resisting chemotherapy and concealing themselves from the immune system. Silencing HO1 in the tumor is thus considered an
cancer