Using gas bubbles to precisely deliver nanomedicines shows promise for lung cancer treatment

The delivery of nanomedicines using gas bubbles has shown itself to be a unique way of transporting cytotoxins to the lungs of cancer patients. The method enables precise and focused treatments, and the local action of the drugs also prevents a range of side-effects.

Results from SINTEF's experiments with mice have shown that the impact of this form of medication is significant. Tumors were significantly reduced in size after only 30 days following the start of treatment.

The study has recently been published in the European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and the method is so promising that the research team has taken out a patent. SINTEF has also signed a license agreement with a pharmaceutical company.

"We're very confident that this approach may offer us a new cure for lung cancer," says researcher and Project Manager Andreas Aslund, who works at SINTEF's Department of Biotechnology and Nanomedicine.

This technology makes it possible to deliver more than just cancer drugs to the lungs. "We envisage that this method of drug delivery can also be used to treat other lung conditions such as cystic fibrosis, infections and pulmonary emphysema," says Aslund.

Image source: Snipstad et al. (2024), European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences.