'Multiple Waves' Nano Delivery System for Treatment Human Pancreatic Cancer

UCLA researchers from the Department of Medicine have designed a treatment strategy to overcome stromal vascular obstruction in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and enhance drug delivery. 

Human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, with a medium survival period less than 6 months. A major reason for the poor prognosis of PDAC is the effective pericyte coverage surrounding tumor blood vessels, which block vascular access of chemotherapies, including both conventional agents and cancer drug-laden nanoparticles. To solve this problem, UCLA researchers have designed a multiple wave treatment strategy to overcome the stromal vascular obstruction and enhance drug delivery.

The pericyte coverage is targeted and removed during the first wave to have vascular access to the neoplastic cells. Access is accomplished by mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) loaded with a small molecule inhibitor of TGF-beta. In the second wave, chemotherapeutic agents and/or nucleic acids are delivered as free drugs or encapsulated in nanocarriers. Preliminary in vivo data shows that the two-wave therapeutic approach leads to a more efficient and robust inhibition of cancer compared to treatments using free drug or conventional drug-laden nanoparticles alone.