'Holy Grail' Nanoparticle Injection That Treats Skin Cancer Developed by Yale Scientists - Study Finds

2/4/2021 'Holy grail' nanoparticle injection that treats skin cancer developed by Yale scientists - Study Finds
Study Finds
Bio-adhesive nanoparticles (white) a er being taken up by skin cancer tumor cells during in vitro culture. (Image credit:
Julia Lewis)
February 3, 2021
Cancer, Health & Medical, Science & Technology
‘Holy grail’ nanoparticle injection that treats skin cancer

developed by Yale scientists
by John Anderer
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NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Could beating skin cancer in the future be as simple as a shot
in the arm? Perhaps, according to a team from Yale University. Scientists are
developing a skin cancer treatment applied by injecting nanoparticles directly inside
tumors. This method could potentially kill cancer cells via a two-pronged approach
and hopefully help countless skin cancer patients avoid surgery.
https://www.studyﬁnds.org/holy-grail-nanoparticles-treats-skin-cancer/ 1/9
“ForStudy
a lot of patients, treating skinYou're
Finds
cancer is much more involved than it would be if
currently o line
there was a way to e ectively treat them with a simple procedure like an injection,”
says senior study author and Yale Medical School’s vice chair of dermatology Dr.
Michael Girardi in a university release. “That’s always been a holy grail in
dermatology — to find a simpler way to treat skin cancers such as basal cell
carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.”
The injections consist of polymer-based nanoparticles infused with a chemotherapy

agent. According to the team at Yale, the bio-adhesive nature of the nanoparticles
involved is integral to this method’s cancer-killing success. In simpler terms, the
nanoparticles are able to latch onto cancer cells long enough to inflict some serious
damage.
“When you inject our nanoparticles into a tumor, it turns out that they’re retained
within that tumor very well,” explains study co-author Mark Saltzman, the Goizueta
Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Chemical and Environmental
Engineering, and professor of physiology. “They accumulate and bind to the tumor
matrix, so one single injection lasts for a very long time — the particles stay there
and slowly release the compounds. You need that to get rid of the lesion.”
Beating skin cancer with a ‘kill and thrill’ approach

Another critical element to this cancer-fighting approach is pairing the injection with
an agent that jumpstarts the immune system.
“I call the phenomenon ‘kill and thrill,'” Girardi adds. “You don’t want to just kill the
cells and leave them there, you want to stimulate the immune system to clean up the
mess and also react against cells that might not have been killed directly. So it’s a
two-pronged attack on the cancer.”
The hope is that, once perfected, this treatment will reduce the need for skin cancer-
related surgeries considerably. This would help out patients across a number of
areas. Less surgeries means fewer potential surgical complications or wound
infections. Moreover, many patients aren’t suitable candidates for surgery in the first
place due to other health considerations.
Additionally, this injection strategy would allow patients to target and treat multiple
tumors during a single doctor visit.
“In these studies, we did just a single

Study Finds
injection, and that’s how we’d like it to work
You're currently o line
clinically,” Saltzman says. “You go to a dermatologist, they see a lesion and inject
into it, and it’s gone and you don’t have to come back.”
Notably, the nanoparticle delivery system allows for the use of particularly strong
chemotherapy drugs without the risk of adverse side-e ects. Since the
nanoparticles, and by extension the chemotherapy drugs, stay attached to tumor
cells, there’s a much lower risk of the usual side-e ects linked to chemotherapy such
as fatigue or hair loss.
The study is published in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.
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John Anderer
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2/4/2021 'Holy grail' nanoparticle injection that treats skin cancer developed by Yale scientists - Study Finds

‘Holy grail’ nanoparticle injection that treats skin cancer

The injections consist of polymer-based nanoparticles infused with a chemotherapy

Beating skin cancer with a ‘kill and thrill’ approach

“In these studies, we did just a single

The study is published in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.

Like 13K people like this. Be the first of your friends.

What is your reaction? 51 votes

HAPPY INDIFFERENT AMUSED EXCITED ANGRY SAD

BREAST CANCER RADIATION

2 BASAL CELL CARCINOMA

3 SYMPTOMS OF MOUTH CANCER

4 HOW TO TREAT NECK PAIN

5 TIPS TO HEAL SORE THROAT

Comments (2) People Listening: 145

TALK OF THE TOWN

The weather has a bigger Overweight is great? Packing

'Holy grail' nanoparticle Breakthrough stem cell

How spicy chili peppers could Study Reveals Why Pandas

Show more articles

Add Vuukle Privacy

About the Author

View John's article archive

Contact Health Studies

© 2021 41 Pushups, LLC

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