Copper-based nanomaterials can kill cancer cells in mice
An interdisciplinary team of scientists from KU Leuven, the
University of Bremen, the Leibniz Institute of Materials Engineering,
and the University of Ioannina has succeeded in killing tumour cells in
mice using nano-sized copper compounds together with immunotherapy.
After the therapy, the cancer did not return.
Recent advances in cancer
therapy use one's own immunity to fight the cancer. However, in some
cases, immunotherapy has proven unsuccessful. The team of biomedical
researchers, physicists, and chemical engineers found that tumours are
sensitive to copper oxide nanoparticles—a compound composed of copper
and oxygen. Once inside a living organism, these nanoparticles dissolve
and become toxic. By creating the nanoparticles using iron oxide, the
researchers were able to control this process to eliminate cancer cells, while healthy cells were not affected.
"Any material that you create at a nanoscale has slightly different
characteristics than its normal-sized counterpart," explain Professor
Stefaan Soenen and Dr. Bella B. Manshian from the Department of Imaging
and Pathology, who worked together on the study. "If we would ingest metal oxides
in large quantities, they can be dangerous, but at a nanoscale and at
controlled, safe, concentrations, they can actually be beneficial."
As the researchers expected, the cancer returned after treating with
only the nanoparticles. Therefore, they combined the nanoparticles with
immunotherapy. "We noticed that the copper compounds not only could kill
the tumour cells directly, they also could assist those cells in the immune system that fight foreign substances, like tumours," says Dr. Manshian.
The combination of the nanoparticles and immunotherapy made the
tumours disappear entirely and, as a result, works as a vaccine for lung
and colon cancer—the two types that were investigated in the study. To
confirm their finding, the researchers injected tumour cells back into
the mice. These cells were immediately eliminated by the immune system,
which was on the lookout for any new, similar, cells invading the body.
The authors state that the novel technique can be used for about
sixty percent of all cancers, given that the cancer cells stem from a
mutation in the p53 gene. Examples include lung, breast, ovarian, and
colon cancer.
A crucial element
is that the tumours disappeared without the use of chemotherapy, which
typically comes with major side-effects. Chemotherapeutic drugs not only
attack cancer cells, they often damage healthy cells along the way. For
example, some of these drugs wipe out white blood cells, abolishing the
immune system.
"As far as I'm aware, this is the first time that metal oxides are used to efficiently fight cancer cells with long-lasting immune effects in live models," Professor Soenen says. "As a next step, we want to create other metal nanoparticles, and identify which particles affect which types of cancer. This should result in a comprehensive database."
The team also plans to test tumour cells
derived from cancer patient tissue. If the results remain the same,
Professor Soenen plans to set up a clinical trial. For that to happen,
however, there are still some hurdles along the way. He explains:
"Nanomedicine is on the rise in the U.S. and Asia, but Europe is lagging
behind. It's a challenge to advance in this field, because doctors and
engineers often speak a different language. We need more interdisciplinary collaboration, so that we can understand each other better and build upon each other's knowledge."
-More information: Hendrik Naatz et al, Model-Based Nanoengineered Pharmacokinetics of Iron-Doped Copper Oxide for Nanomedical Applications, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2019). DOI: 10.1002/anie.201912312
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