This New Cancer Treatment was Inspired by Latte Foams, Pop Rocks, and Gummy Bears

Researchers at the University of Iowa are developing novel, biocompatible materials that could enhance the efficiency of chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer patients.

But what makes this even more special is the fact that it is a marriage of culinary arts and cancer treatment. Gummy bears, Pop Rocks candies, and foams on lattes inspired the materials used.

Gas-Entrapping Materials (GeMs)

The brand-new substances referred to as gas-entrapping materials, or GeMs, can be created as foams, solids, or hydrogels to deliver therapeutic gases in high concentrations directly into tissues and even in tumors, as per a press release of the University of Iowa.

The researchers directly delivered high quantities of oxygen into tumors using GeMs. In mice models of prostate cancer and a particular type of sarcoma, the study claimed that this increased the efficiency of conventional chemotherapy and radiation therapies.

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School also collaborated on the study.

GeMs can significantly raise the oxygen levels within solid tumors, according to the team's findings, making the cancer cells more vulnerable to radiation or chemotherapy.

Additionally, the elevated oxygen levels appeared to enhance immunological reactivity, which is essential for eliciting an immune response to immunotherapy.

Three Ingredients

"These GeMs are very simple, with just three ingredients: the gas, the foaming agents, and the thickening agent," James Byrne, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and the study's lead author, said in a statement.

"We use several unique, custom-built pressurized systems to incorporate high concentrations of gas into small volumes of these biocompatible materials, which can be injected or implanted into tissues and allow for prolonged, controlled release of the gas."

For instance, the foam GeMs are made using a whipping siphon, the same tool baristas use to build foams on iced coffee drinks and hot chocolate. However, it is reverse-engineered to accept different gases, such as oxygen.

The team claims that the GeMs were created in the lab's whipping siphons using inexpensive, safe ingredients that are common in processed foods. The amount of each component can be changed to regulate how much oxygen is released from the material.

Byrne notes that the GeMs' translatability for cancer treatment is highly likely because they are made with safe and edible materials.

The capacity to deliver high medication concentrations with few adverse effects inside the tumor has led to the rise of the intratumoral delivery of cancer medicines over the past ten years, according to the team.

However, the GeMs' foams can be injected directly into the areas of the tumor that are challenging to treat and remove surgically.

The findings of the study were published online in the journal Advanced Science.