Indolfi L, Ligorio M, Ting DT, Xega K, Tzafriri AR, Bersani F, Aceto N, Thapar V, Fuchs BC, Deshpande V, Baker AB, Ferrone CR, Haber DA, Langer R, Clark JW, Edelman ER. A tunable delivery platform to provide local chemotherapy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
Summary: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most devastating and painful cancers. It is often highly resistant to therapy owing to inherent chemoresistance and the desmoplastic response that creates a barrier of fibrous tissue preventing transport of chemotherapeutics into the tumor. The growth of the tumor in pancreatic cancer often leads to invasion of other organs and partial or complete biliary obstruction, inducing intense pain for patients and necessitating tumor resection or repeated stenting. Here, we have developed a delivery device to provide enhanced palliative therapy for pancreatic cancer patients by providing high concentrations of chemotherapeutic compounds locally at the tumor site.
Biomaterials. 2016 Jul;93:71-82. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2016.03.044.