Researchers have developed a novel technique for reducing the radiation dosage to destroy cancerous cells. Radiotherapy is a standard treatment for cancer. Radiotherapists apply varied doses depending on the severity of the tumor. Often, they have to apply very high doses to the whole tumor for effective treatment. This may cause side effects in the patients.
Dromedaries make antibodies that are much smaller and more stable than conventional antibodies. (c) VIB
The researchers belonging to Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie, and the VIB have collaborated to develop a Nanobody that targets the MMR protein. Certain types of macrophages occur in tumor cells and these macrophages produce the MMR proteins. Tumor regions that have a very low concentration of oxygen contain most of these macrophages. These regions demonstrate a high resistance to radiation.
Jo Van Ginderachter of VIB - Vrije Universiteit Brussel stated that radiation therapists will be able to refine their irradiation by identifying and differentiating the areas that will have low and high resistance to radiotherapy. This will enable therapists to provide high radiation doses to more resistant regions and lower doses for other regions resulting in fewer side effects.
Nick Devoogdt of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel stated that the Nanobody enabled visualization of the macrophages in the swelling of the tumors. As the Nanobody is radioactively labeledm it enables the imaging of tumor spread, and this may help determine the prognosis of the patient.
Dromedaries were used for making the Nanobody targeting the MMR protein. Recombinant MMR-molecules were administered in these animals and they developed anti-MMR antibodies that demonstrate more stability and possess a smaller size than conventional antibodies. Only a fragment of these antibodies are kept and hence are called as Nanobody. These small dimensions enable their penetration in tumors.