A new way to treat cancer with chemotherapy

A French study has opened the way for a protocol that makes chemotherapy for cancer patients simpler by using subcutaneous injections instead of intravenous injections, if this method proves effective in humans after testing on animals.

Cancer treatment is often based on intravenous chemotherapy, which has many health consequences and requires hospitalization for the patient.

But a study conducted in France on animals and published by the “American Chemical Society” magazine, and reported by the French press agency, gave hope to make the procedure more simplified, and one of the possibilities it notes to facilitate treatment is the adoption of subcutaneous chemotherapy injections.

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Paclitaxel

But resorting to this method, which is more easy to implement and less inconvenience to the patient, is often not possible, because the active components of the treatment tend to stagnate in the subcutaneous tissue, causing necrosis due to its high toxicity.

Scientists have come up with a new approach aimed at overcoming this obstacle, by attaching the low-soluble active ingredient “Paclitaxel” widely used in chemotherapy to a polymer that is characterized by its strong compatibility with water. It passes quickly from the subcutaneous tissue into the bloodstream without causing toxicity at the site of injection.

Better efficacy

In pre-clinical trials of this new chemotherapy in mice, scientists have found better efficacy than the commercial formula for the active ingredient, Taxol, given intravenously.

The lead author of the study, Director of Research at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Julien Nicolas, said in a statement to Agence France-Presse, that "chemotherapy has many logistical requirements (such as providing qualified staff, hospitalization, etc.), and a high cost"; He stressed that "the main benefit of this new approach is to facilitate chemotherapy and enhance the comfort of patients who may be able to receive treatment at home."

Although this research yielded promising results on an animal model, its effectiveness has not yet been proven in humans, which prompted scientists to establish a startup company to work on the new treatment, and they hope to start clinical trials in 2024.