HSINCHU, Taiwan, Feb 27 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) — A research team led by Dr. Yunching Chen and Tsai-Te Lu of National Tsing Hua University have recently developed a new treatment for cancer, in which blood vessels within malignant tumors are normalized by injecting a specially developed nanodelivery system for nitric oxide (NanoNO), which also facilitates the delivery of cancer drugs and immunocytes into the tumor. Their groundbreaking research has recently been published in the prestigious journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Chen likens the structure of the human body to that of a city, and cancer cells to a gang of ruffians occupying a particular neighborhood. Releasing angiogenesis factors induces the surrounding blood vessels to provide self-expanding nutrients, preventing hypoxic necrosis of the cancer cells. The forms of cancer treatment currently in use, such as chemotherapy and target drugs, mainly work by killing the cancer cells or tumorous blood vessels, but cause abnormalities in the functions and structure of the blood vessels; moreover, if any of the cancer cells survive the treatment, they become recalcitrant, like hardened ruffians, increasing the chances of a relapse or metastasis.