Les microbulles offrent un traitement 2 en 1 contre le cancer

Microbubbles offer two-in-one cancer treatment

Embolization, cutting off the blood vessels that feed tissue growth, is under investigation as a minimally-invasive cancer treatment. The approach, which starves tumours of blood supply and nutrients, typically involves injecting drugs or lodging nanoscopic beads directly into blood vessels. Recently, scientists have explored another option: gas embolotherapy. Gas embolotherapy is based on the injection of droplets – with diameters from tens to hundreds of nanometres – into feeder vessels surrounding the tumour. These droplets are then exposed to ultrasound, which transforms them into microscopic gas bubbles via acoustic droplet vaporization (ADV). The bubbles grow large enough to block feeder vessels, such as the arterioles, thereby cutting off the tumour’s blood supply. Now, a research team from China (Xi’an Jiaotong University) and France (Dr. Bouakaz, Inserm U1253) has discovered that these bubbles could also be used as potential drug delivery systems (Appl. Phys. Lett. 112 233701)... Read more