Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed a gel that was found to cure 100% of mice with an aggressive brain cancer called glioblastoma. The gel, which is injected into the brain, can reach areas that surgery might miss, kill lingering cancer cells, suppress tumor growth and even trigger an immune response in mice that leads to immunological memory, which can discourage recurrence.
The gel combines an anticancer drug and an antibody that self-assembles into a gel to fill the grooves left after a brain tumor is surgically removed. The gel's filaments provide a vehicle to deliver the drug paclitaxel and a specific antibody. They both linger close to the injection site, steadily releasing medication over several weeks, and the active ingredients remain close to the injection site. Due to its success in mice, the gel will next be tested in larger animals, but won’t be available to human patients for several years. A video demo can be seen here.
