A scientific team from the Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology from the University of Coimbra, under the supervision of João Nuno Moreira, has developed a “new strategy for breast cancer treatment”. The scientific breakthrough was announced this Thursday by the Institution.
The study, recently published online on the journal «Breast Cancer Research and Treatment» e cited by Lusa, describes a “nanoparticle capable of targeting breast cancer cells and endothelial cells from tumor blood vessels”.
This new therapy is capable of “stopping the tumor from invading other tissues”, as João Nuno Moreira explains to Lusa. The researcher underlines that this might have a “tremendous impact on tumor recurrence”.
“By preventing tumor invasion, recurrence is strongly reduced”, says the expert, with “high expectation” on the “therapeutic potential” of this technology. João Nuno Moreira says that “cancer is a complex disease with many causes” and this is only one of the possible therapies. So far, the results published by the team are a “significant breakthrough for breast cancer treatment”, the investigator believes. “This is a new generation of nanoparticles” that can “effective increase therapeutic efficiency” (“through tumor recurrence decrease”) and prevent incidence of “secondary effects associated with conventional chemotherapy”, the expert says.
In an animal model of breast cancer, “the drug (doxorubicin) transported by the nanoparticle can reach the tumor at a high dosage”, João Nuno Moreira says.
Developed “since 2004/05 by a team of nine researchers from the CNC, Faculty of Pharmacy from the University of Coimbra and Lisbon, the Portuguese Institute of Oncology from Coimbra and the Faculty of medicine from Lisbon, the novel nanoparticle will be ready for clinical testing in humans in three years”, João Nuno Moreira explains.
