Copper ‘nanocapsules’ could help cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy to better cope with treatment & improve their outcomes says a new China study.
Patients with cancer who need to have secondary radiotherapy treatments often face both an acquired radiation resistance in tumour cells plus a weakened physical condition, making re-irradiation a significant clinical challenge.
This is especially true for people with advanced cancer as well as the elderly who have a pressing need for radiosensitizing drugs during clinical radiotherapy.
Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Hospital found that copper from compounds known as “PWCu nanocapsules” can enter tumour cells during radiotherapy to help overcome ‘acquired radiation resistance’.
The nanocapsules were also found to trigger an anti-tumour immune response to help patients recover faster.
The potential of using PWCu nanocapsules to improve patient outcomes, especially in the context of recurrent and metastatic disease, is immense.
The researchers said it offered a “new solution” in fighting the clinical challenge of re-irradiation in cancer patients.
Study: https://english.cas.cn/newsroom/research_news/life/202409/t20240919_689766.shtml