Nanorobots that move through the bloodstream can reduce cancerous tumors in the bladder by 90 percent.
In a potential breakthrough, scientists in Barcelona created tiny 450-nanometer robots that directly deliver therapeutic effects on growth.
Bladder cancer is one of the most common cancers in men and although the mortality rate is low, almost all tumors return within five years.
In a study in mice, researchers showed that the tiny machines could eliminate the need for multiple tumor treatments by shrinking the tumor after one attempt.
Nanorobots deliver the nanoparticles that attack the tumor and reduce its size by 90 percent
Current treatments for bladder cancer include surgery and chemotherapy, which can cost more than $65,000.
That’s because patients need six to four hospital visits before they see the kind of tumor reduction.
However, the new study claims that the nanobots can achieve that in one visit.
The research was carried out by scientists from the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and CIC biomaGUNE in collaboration with the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB).
The nanobots have a diameter of 450 nanometers, and to see them you would have to increase the magnification 20 million times.
The robots were coated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on their surfaces, allowing researchers to watch them move through the bloodstream and attack the tumor
Bladder cancer is the most common form of cancer that men develop, and most return within five years
The team injected the nanobots into the bloodstream of mice with bladder cancer and watched as the gold-colored machines went to work and spread through the body to reach the tumor.
These nanomachines are designed with a silica sphere that contains several components, including the enzyme urease and radioactive iodine.
Urease reacts with urea in the urine to propel the nanorobot, while the radioactive iodine treats the cancer.
The team realized that the nanobot increased the pH balance near the tumor, breaking down the extracellular matrix – which contributes to the mechanical properties of tissues.
Once identified, the tiny nanobots punched into the tissue of the urinary tract “as if it were a wall.”
But because the tumor is more spongy, the little robots are absorbed, clustered inside and delivered radioactive iodine, a radioisotope commonly used to treat localized tumors and cancer of the thyroid gland.
The nanorobots located the tumors and moved in to directly administer radioactive iodine to shrink the tumor
The researchers noted that it is unclear how the nanobots could penetrate the tumor because they are missing specific antibodies to recognize the growth, and the tissue is usually stiffer than healthy tissue.
Meritxell Serra Casablancas, co-first author of the study and IBEC researcher, said: ‘However, we observed that these nanorobots can degrade the tumor extracellular matrix by locally increasing the pH via a self-propelled chemical reaction.
‘This phenomenon promoted greater tumor penetration and was beneficial in achieving preferential accumulation within the tumor.’
Although initial recovery rates for bladder cancer are successful, 30 to 70 percent of patients’ tumors return, requiring additional treatment and costs, and progress progresses at between 10 and 30 percent.
“The innovative optical system we have developed has allowed us to eliminate the light reflected from the tumor itself, allowing us to identify and localize nanoparticles throughout the organ without prior labeling, with unprecedented resolution,” says Julien Colombelli, leader of the Advanced Digital Microscopy platform at IRB Barcelona.
This is because the cost of treating bladder cancer is rising, costing the average patient as much as $9.4 billion throughout treatment in 2020, compared to $8.4 billion in 2015, according to the report National Cancer Institute.
Scientists who conducted the nanobot study are still unsure whether the nanobot treatment will prevent the tumor from returning, but following the nanobot’s success, additional studies are already underway to determine its long-term efficacy.
“The results of this study open the door to the use of other radioisotopes with greater potential to induce therapeutic effects,” said Cristina Simó, co-author of the study.