on October 29th ,2018,“Conjugation of haematopoietic stem cells and platelets decorated with anti-PD-1 antibodies augments anti-leukaemia efficacy”was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering. The researchers proposed a "cell combination drug delivery" (CCDD) technology: two different cells are glued together to target drug delivery.It has been verified on animal models that the anti-cancer drug can be delivered to the deep bone marrow to enhance the efficacy of killing cancer cells and significantly inhibit recurrence.
This technology is currently targeted at acute myeloid leukemia (AML). This is a cancer that develops in the bone marrow. Generally speaking, for AML patients, the usual treatment is chemotherapy, but its effect is not so ideal. Usually because some cancer cells are hidden in the bone marrow, chemotherapy does not "deep into the bone marrow.
CCDD technology is the first treatment to connect two different cells together. Among them, one type of cell is a platelet which is used to deliver an immunotherapy drug PD-1 antibody. These drugs can find cancer cells and destroy their defense systems. Another type of cell is a hematopoietic stem cell(HSC). HSC are like a signal pointing to the bone marrow. Once stem cells bring cell combinations (ie, stem cells and platelets) to the bone marrow, platelets can be activated, releasing drugs and exerting anticancer effects.
The researchers injected HSC-platelet-aPD-1 conjugates into these leukemia mouse models.
After 3 weeks of treatment, the cancer lesions in the mice were effectively reduced. In many control groups, cancer has intensified.In terms of survival rate, nearly 90% of the mice receiving the new treatment lived for more than 80 days.Mice in the control group can only live up to 40 days. This therapy not only treats patients individually, but can also be combined with chemotherapy or cell therapy to better treat AML.