UC research to help improve cancer patient drug delivery

UC research to help improve cancer patient drug delivery

November 12, 2013

A University of Canterbury (UC) mechanical engineering research lecturer is investigating new technologies to help improve the delivery of drugs to skin cancer patients by administering the drug directly through the skin.

Dr Sid Becker will look at skin electroporation which involves using very short intense electric pulses on the skin to change the microscopic structure of the skin’s outer layer.

Dr Becker has received $300,000 of Marsden funding over three years to help develop successful means of targeted delivery of drugs so that they can be more effectively transported to the cancerous tissue.

``The electric field can also cause the underlying cells to be much more receptive to taking up the drugs,’’ Dr Becker says.

``The overall aim of the research is to uncover the physics that dictate the response of the skin to intense electric fields in conjunction with the associated drug transport.

``This knowledge in turn will lead directly to the development of new protocols that greatly increase the efficacy and safety of skin electroporation treatments.’’

Dr Becker’s group is fortunate to represent New Zealand as a non-EU participant in the multi-national initiative for the development of electroporation-based technologies and treatments.

This multi-million dollar project sponsored by the European Union is led by Professor Damijan Miklavcic of the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, who will be working with Dr Becker on the Marsden research in order to help New Zealand become a recognised research leader in the development of novel, highly effective methods to treat melanoma and skin related maladies.

The first phase of the project will uncover the physics of the development of the transport route through the skin’s barrier layer that results from the electric field. This will allow physicians and engineers can better understand how the electric field changes the skin’s structure.

The group will then develop new methods and technologies to maximise drug delivery effectiveness and minimize the risk of dermal damage. This phase will result in the ability to enhance transdermal drug delivery technology in New Zealand.

Transdermal drug delivery has made an important contribution to medical practice, but has yet to fully achieve its potential as an alternative to oral delivery and hypodermic injections.

ENDS

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