A Better Chemotherapy Method to Lessen Death and Side Effects

Filed in archive Treatment on April 10, 2006

There is a new method of delivering chemotherapy that is being developed at the University of Bath.

This new method involves using tiny fibres and beads soaked in the chemotherapy drug which is then implanted into the cancerous area in the patient's body; is deemed to lessen deaths and side effects such as hair loss and vomiting.

These fibres are bio-degradable and compatible with body tissue, which means they would not be rejected by the patient's body. They gradually turn from solid to liquid, releasing a regular flow of the chemotherapy chemical into the cancer site, and a much lower dose to the rest of the body.

This is a more localised way of killing cancer cells than the current method of injecting the chemical into a cancer sufferer's vein so that it is carried around the body.

This drug delivery vehicle called Fibrasorb is developed by Dr Semali Perera, of the University of Bath's Department of Chemical Engineering.

Read more.