New research co-led by Indiana University School of Medicine scientists presents a significant step toward more precise and effective cancer treatments by using a breakthrough method to deliver therapies directly to cancer cells.

The study was recently published in ACS Nano.

"One of the biggest challenges in cancer treatment is that many drugs not only attack cancer cells but also harm healthy cells throughout the body," said Ngoc Tung Tran, PhD, the study’s co-lead author and an assistant professor of paediatrics and of microbiology and immunology at the IU School of Medicine.

"This can lead to serious side effects and limit how well the treatment works. Our goal is to develop a smarter way to deliver cancer therapy directly to cancer cells while avoiding normal tissues."

In the study, researchers focused on multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that mainly grows in plasma cells found in the bone marrow.

Using mouse models, they carried therapeutic molecules into cells by using a delivery system of tiny, fat-based particles called lipid nanoparticles, or LNPs.

Normally, LNPs naturally travel to the liver.

However, the researchers discovered that by attaching an antibody that recognises a marker found on multiple myeloma cells known as BCMA, they could redirect the nanoparticles to the bone marrow and specifically target myeloma cells in their natural environment.

In their findings, they discovered that adding more antibodies to the nanoparticle surface did not necessarily improve targeting.

"Excitingly, we found that nanoparticles with a lower number of antibodies worked better than those with higher amounts," said Tran, who is also a researcher at the Herman B Wells Centre for Paediatric Research and the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

"This finding highlights the importance of carefully optimising nanoparticle design to maximise treatment effectiveness."

In collaboration with the study's co-lead author, David H. Thompson, PhD, of Purdue University, the research team’s next step is to further improve these nanoparticles so they can more efficiently reach the bone marrow and deliver therapies that block genes essential for myeloma progression.

"Ultimately, we hope this strategy will lead to safer and more effective treatments for patients with multiple myeloma," Tran said.

IU School of Medicine’s Kwadwo Fosu is a co-author on the study.

Additional co-authors include Feng Qu, Azaria A. Wagner, Jayani C. Dhanasinghe, Andrew P. Dyba, Yi-Kai Liu and Jeffrey E. Dick from Purdue University.

Source: Indiana University