A nanoparticle therapy to treat lung cancer and associated muscle wasting at the same time
Why it matters: This therapy could simultaneously treat lung cancer, which affects 230,000 Americans annually, and cachexia, which kills 30% of cancer patients.
- Oregon State University researchers, led by Oleh Taratula and Yoon Tae Goo, developed a lipid nanoparticle (LNP) therapy published in the Journal of Controlled Release.
- The LNPs deliver follistatin messenger RNA (mRNA) to lung tumors, triggering cells to produce the follistatin protein, which inhibits tumors and promotes muscle tissue growth.
- Vitronectin, a blood serum protein, directs the intravenously administered LNPs to lung cancer tumors by interacting with integrin receptors overexpressed on the tumor surface.
- This systemic delivery method achieved an approximately 2.5-fold greater reduction in tumor burden compared to conventional LNPs, which typically accumulate in the liver.
- The therapy addresses both lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., and cachexia, a debilitating muscle-wasting syndrome that affects and kills up to 30% of cancer patients.
Oregon State University researchers have developed a groundbreaking nanoparticle therapy that simultaneously targets lung cancer and its associated muscle-wasting condition, cachexia, in a mouse model. This innovative approach uses lipid nanoparticles to deliver follistatin messenger RNA directly to lung tumors, promoting tumor inhibition and muscle growth without adverse effects.
