Al's Comment:
Irinotecan (CPT-11) looked like a very promising drug in the test tube and with other cancers, so it was tried IV in clinical trials with Avastin. It did slightly better but probably not worth the extra side effects. This project looks at a different way to get the drug into the brain at a higher concentration without hurting the rest of the body. I love concepts like this. IF they can get a high concentration in the brain, it may work much better.
Posted on: 05/18/2013
Mol Pharm. 2013 May 15. [Epub ahead of print]
Irinotecan delivery by microbubble-assisted ultrasound: in-vitro validation and a pilot preclinical study.
Escoffre JM, Novell A, Serrière S, Lecomte T, Bouakaz A.
Abstract
Irinotecan is a powerful anti-cancer drug with severe systemic side effects that limit its clinical application. Drug-targeted delivery with non-invasive methods is required to enhance the drug concentration locally and to reduce these undesirable events. Microbubble-assisted ultrasound has become a promising method for non-invasive targeted drug delivery. The aim of this study is to evaluate the therapeutic effectiveness of in-vitro and in-vivo irinotecan delivery based on the combination of ultrasound and microbubbles. In the present study, in-vitro results showed that the irinotecan treatment with microbubble-assisted ultrasound induced a significant decrease in cell viability of human glioblastoma cells. Moreover, using subcutaneous glioblastoma xenografts, the in-vivo preclinical study in nude mice demonstrated that this therapeutic protocol led to a decrease in tumor growth and perfusion and an increase of tumor necrosis. The conclusions drawn from this study demonstrate the promising potential of this therapeutic approach for the anti-cancer targeted therapy.
PMID: 23675982 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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