23-Apr-2021 | Market Research Store
In case of malignant brain tumors, the surgeries and treatments using chemotherapy and radiation have proved ineffective at some point as there are chances of recurrence of the tumors. The team of scientists from Linköping University and the Medical University of Graz has found that cells in culture to show the ion pump to help easily deliver drugs more precisely, which reduces the adverse effects of chemotherapy. The study published in Advanced Materials Technologies has explained how the ion pumps can help treat malignant brain tumors. The researchers found the results to be very promising and thus, there are possibilities that in the next few years this technology can help treat brain tumors.
According to lead researcher Daniel Simon at Linköping University, the most aggressive form of cancer is glioblastoma, which even after surgical removal tend to remain left behind. The removal of the embedded cancerous cells through radiation or chemotherapy to stop the recurrence of tumor can prove damaging for the healthy brain tissue. In Sweden, there are 30 cytostatics or chemotherapy agents that are used to treat various cancers. For the treatments to reach the brain, it is important that they pass through the blood-brain barrier and the circulatory system. The studies have shown the walls of the blood vessels in the brain to be less permeable and helpful in preventing entry of blood into the brain. Thus, only a few drugs are able to cross the blood-brain barrier.
The researchers have lately found a new method wherein the ion pump implants placed around the blood-brain barriers can help deliver gemcitabine directly into the brain. Currently, this gemcitabine is used to treat cancers located in bladder, pancreas, and breast. However, as this drug affects cell division it is proves ineffective against brain tumors as no cell division takes place in the brain. The existing glioblastoma treatment affects the neuronal as well as the cancer cells. This is why the use of the gemcitabine ion pump is anticipated to help tackle cancerous cells with less of current using electrolyte reservoir.