Researchers at University of California, San Diego have developed a nanoparticles/anti-cancer-drug combination that acts as a “smart bomb” to target metastasis (spreading) in mouse pancreatic and kidney cancer.

The 100-nm. nanoparticle comprises (unnamed) lipid polymers that deliver the drug doxorubcin, selectively targeting blood vessels that feed cancerous lesions by homing in on the protein marker integrin alpha-nu-beta-3 found on the surface of those blood vessels. It has a strong anti-cancer effect, using 15 times less chemotherapy drug than would be used during systemic (flooding the whole body with chemotherapy) cancer treatment.

Cancer metastasis is traditionally much more difficult to treat than the primary tumor, and is what usually leads to the patient’s death.

University of California San Diego News Release