The hungry cancer cells consume the nutrients much faster than normal cells. Once the cancer cells metabolize the hidden drug, it activates and kills them.
“It’s like the fatty acid has a hand on both ends: one can grab onto the drug and one can grab onto proteins,” Gianneschi said. “The idea is to disguise drugs as fats so that they get into cells and the body is happy to transport them around.”
The researchers used the drug delivery system to carry paclitaxel, a common, FDA-approved chemotherapy drug, into tumors in a small animal model. The drug, disguised as fat, entered the tumors and “completely destroyed” three types of cancer: bone, pancreatic, and colon.
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Furthermore, the team found that they could deliver 20 times the typical dose of paclitaxel with their system, in comparison to two other paclitaxel-based drugs. Despite the high dose, however, the drug system developed by the Northwestern University scientists was 17 times safer.
