Novel nanomedicine technology is likely to lead to the development of unique goods such as targeted drug-delivery techniques. The principal study area in which nanomedicines have a significant function and demand is targeted medication delivery of various pharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer, AIDS, and brain diseases.
According to new research, when supplied using an improved liposomal formulation, the commonly used chemotherapy medication (5-FU or Fluorouracil) is 100% more effective in targeting tumors (rather than surrounding tissues).
Nanomedicines, which are often pharmaceuticals buried within nanoscopic lipid membranes (‘liposomes,’ have the potential to change chemotherapy treatments, enhancing drug delivery and minimizing hazardous side effects for thousands of cancer patients each year.
Chemotherapy is routinely delivered to treat many different forms of cancers, including breast and colon cancers. However, one of the key drawbacks of 5-FU is that it does not diffuse well to tumor concerns and can cause substantial levels of off-target harm.
Professor Clive Prestidge
The University of South Australia has now shown that the commonly used chemotherapy drug (5-FU or Fluorouracil) is 100% more successful in targeting tumors (rather than surrounding tissues) when administered using an optimized liposomal formulation.
The biodistribution of 5-FU liposome formulations has been assessed for the first time utilizing a minimally invasive sample technique known as micro-dialysis, which could not be accomplished as efficiently with current imaging approaches. Each year, approximately 150,000 new instances of cancer are diagnosed in Australia. It is the greatest cause of death in the world, accounting for almost 10 million fatalities per year (nearly one in six deaths).
Chemotherapy is commonly used to treat a wide range of malignancies, with 5-FU being a key component. Nausea and vomiting, exhaustion, hair loss, diarrhea or constipation, weight changes, frequent infections, and mouth sores are all possible side effects of this medication.
Stealth lipids are well-suited for achieving effective lipoidal nanomedicine drug delivery. The stealth qualities and GRAS status of polyethylene glycol (PEG) have increased interest in the usage of PEG-linked lipids in the realm of nanomedicine.
Professor Clive Prestidge, lead researcher and co-Director of UniSA’s Centre for Pharmaceutical Innovation, believes the discovery could revolutionize the way chemotherapy is administered, improving the quality of life for thousands of cancer patients.
“Chemotherapy is routinely delivered to treat many different forms of cancers, including breast and colon cancers,” Prof Prestidge explains. “However, one of the key drawbacks of 5-FU is that it does not diffuse well to tumor concerns and can cause substantial levels of off-target harm.”
“As a result, many individuals experience side effects and can become severely ill throughout therapy.” Because they prolong the retention of encapsulated pharmaceuticals and can better target tumors, liposomal formulations offer significant potential for safer and more effective cancer therapies. However, optimizing them for chemotherapeutic medicines has always been difficult.”
“Our micro-dialysis approach is the first to quantify how liposomal-specific delivery of 5-FU can reduce tumour growth with fewer toxic side effects, so it has the potential to dramatically transform many cancer treatments and deliver better outcomes for people with cancer.”
The field of nanomedicine possesses a diverse range of lipid-based drug carriers, as well as innovative nanostructured drug carriers, which are introduced to this range on an annual basis. The major goal of investigating any new lipid-based nanoformulation is to improve the therapeutic index of the relevant medicinal molecule while minimizing the related side-effects. Longer circulation in the bloodstream, as well as stability, are critical for sustaining prolonged distribution of these intravenously injected lipoidal nanomedicines to the targeted tissues and organ systems in the body.
Following delivery, these systems are promptly removed by cells associated with the mononuclear phagocyte system after they are recognized as foreign entities in the body. To provide these lipid-based systems with long circulation characteristics, techniques such as coating the lipoidal surface with an inert polymeric material such as polyethylene glycol (PEG) aid in imparting’stealth properties’ to these nanoformulations in order to avoid recognition by immune system macrophages.
