Construction and evaluation of hyaluronic acid-based copolymers as a targeted chemotherapy drug carrier for cancer therapy

Melanoma (MM) is a highly aggressive skin cancer with limited treatment options. Although chemotherapy has been using for advanced melanoma treatment, the lack of targetability, the poor biocompatibility and the severe side effects still hamper the wide applications of chemotherapy agents in MM management. Herein, a biocompatible and biodegradable polymeric hyaluronic acid nanoparticle (HANP) encapsulated with Paclitaxel (PTX) was developed for MM targeted therapy. Our results showed that PTX at 37 ± 2.1% (w/w) was able to be loaded into HANP with over 5 d of stability under physiological conditions. In vitro, HANP/PTX presented hyaluronidase-dependent drug release. Compared to free PTX, HANP/PTX demonstrated a 6-75 times higher growth inhibition in five different cancer cells, while only presenting minimum toxicity to normal cells. After intravenous administration at a 10 mg kg^-1 equivalent dose of PTX, HANP/PTX significantly ablated MM tumor growth in a mouse model. As confirmed by ¹⁸F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, the tumors started to respond to the HANP/PTX as early as 7 d after the initial treatment, which will significantly benefit for personalized treatment. In conclusion, the HANP/PTX nanocomplex demonstrated great promise as a translational nanomedicine for cancer chemotherapy.

GNQ-209P Mutation in Metastatic Uveal Melanoma and Treatment Outcome

Metastatic prognosis in uveal melanoma is assessed by gene expression profiling (GEP) testing of the tumor cells, usually obtained by fine needle aspiration (FNA). GEP has demonstrated high accuracy in distinguishing class I and II tumors, both having different metastatic potential. Transcriptomic studies identified distinct mutations including somatic mutations in GNAQ and GNA11, detected in more than 80%, and contribute to the upregulation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and the development of uveal melanoma (UM). The role of these mutations in treatment selection and possible benefit from targeted therapy are somewhat unclear. However, until the discovery of novel agents, local versus systemic therapies remain options for treatment that can still be considered for disease control in certain cases. We report a series of patients with metastatic UM with distinct mutational profiles. One had significant liver metastases with proven GNQ-209P mutation on tissue biopsy while peripheral blood molecular profiling did not show these mutations. The other three cases had no GNQ-209P mutation. All cases received nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) as a treatment drug, and we record their responses to treatment and their molecular-profiling results.

Improved anticancer effects of albumin-bound paclitaxel nanoparticle via augmentation of EPR effect and albumin-protein interactions using S-nitrosated human serum albumin dimer

In the latest trend of anticancer chemotherapy research, there were many macromolecular anticancer drugs developed based on enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, such as albumin bound paclitaxel nanoparticle (nab- PTX, also called Abraxane^®). However, cancers with low vascular permeability posed a challenge for these EPR based therapeutic systems. Augmenting the intrinsic EPR effect with an intrinsic vascular modulator such as nitric oxide (NO) could be a promising strategy. S-nitrosated human serum albumin dimer (SNO-HSA Dimer) shown promising activity previously was evaluated for the synergistic effect when used as a pretreatment agent in nab-PTX therapy against various tumor models. In the high vascular permeability C26 murine colon cancer subcutaneous inoculation model, SNO-HSA Dimer enhanced tumor selectivity of nab-PTX, and attenuated myelosuppression. SNO-HSA Dimer also augmented the tumor growth inhibition of nab-PTX in low vascular permeability B16 murine melanoma subcutaneous inoculation model. Furthermore, nab-PTX therapy combined with SNO-HSA Dimer showed higher antitumor activity and improved survival rate of SUIT2 human pancreatic cancer orthotopic model. In conclusion, SNO-HSA Dimer could enhance the therapeutic effect of nab-PTX even in low vascular permeability or intractable pancreatic cancers. The possible underlying mechanisms of action of SNO-HSA Dimer were discussed.

The era of bioengineering: how will this affect the next generation of cancer immunotherapy?

Background

Immunotherapy consists of activating the patient’s immune system to fight cancer and has the great potential of preventing future relapses thanks to immunological memory. A great variety of strategies have emerged to harness the immune system against tumors, from the administration of immunomodulatory agents that activate immune cells, to therapeutic vaccines or infusion of previously activated cancer-specific T cells. However, despite great recent progress many difficulties still remain, which prevent the widespread use of immunotherapy. Some of these limitations include: systemic toxicity, weak immune cellular responses or persistence over time and most ultimately costly and time-consuming procedures.

Main body

Synthetic and natural biomaterials hold great potential to address these hurdles providing biocompatible systems capable of targeted local delivery, co-delivery, and controlled and/or sustained release. In this review we discuss some of the bioengineered solutions and approaches developed so far and how biomaterials can be further implemented to help and shape the future of cancer immunotherapy.

Conclusion

The bioengineering strategies here presented constitute a powerful toolkit to develop safe and successful novel cancer immunotherapies.