Scientists are crafting an implant, tinier than a crayon, that can reportedly eliminate cancer from the body in a mere 60 days.
Spearheaded by Rice University in Houston, Texas, researchers from seven states have engineered a three-inch implantable device that doubles as a cancer detection system and a drug dispensary, tailoring its drug release based on the patient’s responses.
Physicians will determine the appropriate drugs for a patient and load them into the device, which then administers them into the patient’s body. Named the Hybrid Advanced Molecular Manufacturing Regulator, or HAMMR for short, this contraption contains sensors that monitor any fast-mutating cancer cells, tweaking the release of immunotherapy drugs based on the patient’s response.
“This kind of ‘closed-loop therapy’ has been used for managing diabetes,” said bioengineer Omid Veiseh, a principal investigator on the team, “where you have a glucose monitor that continuously talks to an insulin pump. But for cancer immunotherapy, it’s revolutionary.”
Immunotherapy, a treatment modality employing substances either naturally occurring in the body or synthesized in labs to bolster the immune system, aims at empowering the body to naturally combat the cancer. The advent of HAMMR is poised to augment the efficacy of immunotherapy, especially in combating elusive cancers like ovarian and pancreatic, with aspirations to cut the U.S. cancer mortality rate in half.
“The device will get a real-time understanding of how our cancer cells are changing so we can change in parallel,” explained Dr. Amir Jazaeri, another principal investigator.
The acceleration in treatment response, facilitated by the implant, contrasts starkly with the traditional, protracted process of awaiting test outcomes and formulating new treatment strategies, which could span months.
With recent funding secured for a first-phase clinical trial focusing on recurrent ovarian cancer, the team is optimistic. The HAMMR implant, projected to necessitate just about two months for potentially curing a patient, aims for human trials within five years.
