Ultrasound-triggered disruption and self-healing of reversibly cross-linked hydrogels for drug delivery and enhanced chemotherapy
Abstract
Drug-releasing polymers give clinicians the ability to deliver chemotherapy directly to tumors, sparing the rest of the body from toxic side effects. Most devices deliver a constant, unchangeable drug dose over time. However, we found that cancer cells are more sensitive to short-term, high-dose "bursts" of the chemotherapeutic mitoxantrone than to constant doses over longer periods, suggesting a benefit for implantable devices that allow external control over dose and timing. Biocompatible, injectable alginate hydrogels displayed the ability to self-heal damage induced by ultrasound pulses, enabling on-demand delivery of mitoxantrone, in vitro and in vivo, and mitoxantrone-loaded gels implanted near tumors were more effective at eliminating tumor growth when a daily pulse of ultrasound was applied.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- July 2014
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1405469111
- Bibcode:
- 2014PNAS..111.9762H