Implantable microparticles can deliver two cancer therapies at once

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have designed tiny particles that can be implanted at a tumor site, where they deliver two types of therapy: heat and chemotherapy. In a study of mice, the researchers showed that this therapy completely eliminated tumors in most of the animals and significantly prolonged their survival. To create a microparticle that could deliver both of these treatments, the researchers combined an inorganic material called molybdenum disulfide nanosheets with one of two drugs: doxorubicin or violacein. To make the particles, molybdenum disulfide and the drug are mixed with a polymer called polycaprolactone and then dried into a film that can be pressed into microparticles of different shapes and sizes. Once injected into a tumor site, the particles remain there throughout the treatment, and an external near-infrared laser is used to heat up the particles.