The Dubrowsky Lab at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital (ROH) has secured a £110k grant from Orthopaedic Research UK to develop an injectable paste with anticancer and bone regenerative properties.
The project will see researchers at ROH produce an injectable paste comprised of gallium-doped bioglass that if proved effective could be used to treat patients with primary and metastatic bone cancer.
Dr Lucas Souza, Research Lab Manager at the Dubrowsky Lab – Royal Orthopaedic Hospital and Lead Researcher for this new project, comments: “Advances in treatment of bone cancer have reached a plateau over the past 40 years, in part due to a lack of research studies into treatments and the complexity and challenges that come with treating bone tumours. Innovative and effective therapeutic approaches are needed and this grant from Orthopaedic Research UK provides vital funds for us to continue our research into the use of gallium-doped bioglass in the treatment of bone cancer.”
Gallium is a metallic element that has cancer-killing properties. When combined with bioactive glass the material can kill cancer cells that remain when a tumour is removed and accelerate the regeneration of the bone defect. In addition, the material also prevents bacterial contamination in the surgical site. A recent study led by Aston University in collaboration with the ROH found that bioactive glasses doped with the metal have a 99 percent success rate of eliminating cancerous cells.
The injectable paste is to function as a drug delivery system for localised delivery of anticancer gallium ions (GaBG) and bisphosphonates whilst regenerating bone. The team hypothesise that the GaBG and bisphosphonates will promote rapid bone formation and will prevent cancer re-occurrence by killing residual cancer cells and regulating local osteoclastic activity.
The new therapeutic approach will be particularly useful in reducing cancer re-occurrence, implant site infections and implant failure rates in cases of bone tumours where large resections for complete tumour removal is either not possible, e.g., when tumours are located too close to vital organs, or not recommended, e.g., in the treatment of bone metastases and aggressive benign bone tumours (such as Giant-cell tumour of bone) when the harm inflicted by a large su