Nov. 8, 2012 A completely new way of delivering anti-cancer
drugs to tumours, using "minicells" derived from bacteria, has
been tested for the first time in humans and found to be safe,
well-tolerated and even induced stable disease in patients with
advanced, incurable cancers with no treatment options remaining.
The research, which is presented at the 24th EORTC-NCI-AACR
Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in
Dublin, Ireland, November 9, suggests that it could be possible
to use this new technology for targeted delivery of other drugs
to a range of cancers, and to personalise treatment by adjusting
the drugs to suit the genetic make-up of each patient's tumour .
Dr Himanshu Brahmbhatt and Dr Jennifer MacDiarmid, the founders
of EnGeneIC, a biotech company in Sydney, Australia, designed
the minicells to deliver anti-cancer drugs directly to tumour
cells, thereby reducing the toxic side-effects that are seen
when chemotherapy is given to patients systemically. The
minicells are created from