Biodegradable nano micro system for image guided combinatorial nuclear embolization and RF ablation therapy of liver tumors

Abstract

Liver cancer / Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is the second most common cause of death due to cancer worldwide; with the primary disease burden (gt80%) in developing nations. Majority of the patients at the time of presentation are not eligible for surgery and hence locoregional treatment strategies like Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) and Transarterial Embolization (TAE) for HCC become mainstay in everyday clinical practice. Conventional RFA has an uninsulated electrode placed in the tumor, and the alternating current passed through it produces frictional heating resulting in ablation of the tumor. A temperature of gt60°C is considered ideal to cause tumor ablation, but due to inefficient heat conduction within tissues and also adjacent blood vessels that act as heat sinks, therefore conventional RFA has been efficient in treating HCCs only less than 3cm in diameter.On the other hand, plain-embolizingagents for TAE led to revascularization with development of colaterals. This led to the development of drug eluting and radioactive microbeads to achieve better tumor control. However, besides being non biodegradable and non imageable, lack of indegenous technology has resulted in these radioactive microbeads being literally unaffordable to many deserving patients. Though both RFA and TAE are performed separately, some clinicians have attempted combining the two techniques. But since the underlying inherent shortcomings of the two techniques have not been addressed, the overall therapeutic efficacy remains low. This project has attempted to use nanotechnology to formulate a biodegradable nano-micro system for improving the existing treatment stategies for unresectable HCC. Specifically, our first invention will produce augmented tumor tissue ablation and RF triggered drug release when exposed to clinically prescribed RF energy. And the second is an affordable technology for radioembolization with imageable and biodegradable microbeads. The first part of this work focuses on development of biodegradable(abstract attached).