Name: Elizabeth Serrano Chávez
Project Title: Formulation of immunotherapeutics in gels
Group: Colloids and Biological Interfaces (CBIO)
Supervisor(s): Jonas R. Henriksen, Thomas L. Andresen and Anders E. Hansen
Project Description:
The current project is focused on formulation of immunotherapeutics using soft gel materials that 1) can be injected directly into cancerous tissue, 2) are visible on medical-imaging technologies and 3) provide a sustained drug release. The development of such gels allows for administration of hydrophobic drugs that otherwise suffer from poor aqueous solubility and bioavailability. Thus, this novel technology offers a wide range of new treatment possibilities as it also allows for simultaneous release of several drugs as a combination therapy.
Perspective:
Every year more than 12 million people are diagnosed with cancer worldwide and over 7.5 million people die from cancer each year. These numbers are expected to increase dramatically because of population growth and due to the lifestyle in the Western world. There is thus an urgent need for developing new therapies to overcome this challenge. The drug delivery system studied in this project can be an innovative alternative for cancer treatment.