New absorber may reduce chemo's toxic effects

PanARMENIAN.Net - Researchers have developed an innovative, personalized absorber that can "catch" toxic chemotherapy drugs when they "leak out" of a treated organ. This could help reduce the adverse side effects of these cancer treatments.

A team of researchers from institutions across the United States — including the University of California (UC), Berkeley, and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) — has recently developed a tiny device akin to a sponge, which is set to absorb chemotherapy agents after they have reached their target.

The aim of the absorber is to minimize the toxic side effects of chemotherapy drugs, which, although they have a potent effect against cancer tumors, also attack healthy organs and tissue and can impair their function.

The device is 3-D printed, so it can perfectly fit the vein of any individual receiving a chemotherapy treatment. Its absorbent polymer coating is able to "soak up" the toxic agents after they have passed through the organ that the treatment is targeting.

So far, the researchers have tested this new device as an aid to chemotherapy for liver cancer, as the therapeutic drugs travel to the liver in the bloodstream, which can increase the risk of toxic side effects.

The researchers have reported their experiments and findings in a study paper that has appeared today in the journal ACS Central Science.