Chemoembolization is a minimally invasive cancer treatment that blocks blood flow to tumors while delivering localized chemotherapy. It is primarily used for liver cancer, kidney cancer, and neuroendocrine tumors. Liver cancer, particularly Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), is the sixth most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, with HCC accounting for 90% of liver cancer cases. HCC is typically managed with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), which aims to control, not cure, the disease. Less than 30% of patients qualify for curative treatments like surgery or liver transplants, leaving most to receive palliative therapies such as TACE, transarterial embolization, chemotherapy, and radioembolization.
TACE combines embolization (blocking blood flow) with drug delivery. However, conventional TACE has limitations. Blocking blood flow prevents effective drug delivery, reducing treatment efficacy. Additionally, the sudden lack of blood supply creates extreme hypoxia in the tumor, triggering harmful signals like VEGF and HIF-1, which promote tumor growth, metastasis, and drug resistance.
Our proposed Solution: A novel two-step platform, EmboPore, addresses these issues. Porous degradable beads act as "mini-stents," allowing gradual drug delivery while maintaining partial blood flow. Over time, the beads degrade, fully blocking blood vessels to induce controlled tissue necrosis. This gradual approach reduces harmful stress signals and enhances drug delivery. The biodegradable, injectable design is compatible with standard clinical catheters and offers potential applications beyond HCC, including metastatic liver and gastrointestinal diseases.
Our results showed that porous drug eluting beads were superior than dense ones. Moreover by combining two drugs with synergic activity we obtained a dramatic efficacy against liver tumor in rat models of orthotopic liver cancer. The finding are very promising and can be a basis for future clinical translation.
