New Tracking Method Enhances Chemotherapy Drug Effectiveness

Researchers have made significant strides in cancer treatment by developing a new technique that allows for the tracking of chemotherapy drugs within cells. This advancement addresses critical challenges in evaluating drug effectiveness and ensuring uniform distribution among cancer cells, which are often densely packed in tumors.

Breakthrough in Drug Tracking

The research centers on a modified version of the widely used chemotherapy drug doxorubicin, termed DOX-IR. This innovative formulation incorporates a metal carbonyl, a compound formed when a metal atom bonds with carbon monoxide molecules, enabling its detection through infrared light. The team behind this research includes Craig Richard, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL), and Pei-Hsuan Hsieh, a Principal Scientist at Eli Lilly and Company.

Richard explained, “Infrared spectroscopy can see doxorubicin’s chemical signature, but since it’s an organic molecule, its signal overlaps with that of cells. When it’s labeled, though, it stands out very clearly because of that metal carbonyl group.” This capability allows researchers to monitor the movement of DOX-IR as it traverses cancer cells using an infrared microscope.

Potential for Personalized Cancer Therapies

In their study, researchers compared cancer cells treated with conventional doxorubicin to those treated with DOX-IR. Findings revealed that cancer cells absorbed DOX-IR over time, with the drug’s signal intensifying as more of it concentrated within the cells. This new method not only enhances the ability to measure drug concentration at a single-cell level but also opens the door for personalized cancer therapies.

Richard noted, “This could have both therapeutic and diagnostic potential. You can take these metal carbonyls and also give them signals to release the carbon monoxide that’s on them, which can be used as a treatment for other diseases including cancer.”

Despite the promising results, researchers acknowledge limitations in the current application of DOX-IR as a chemotherapy drug. Richard cautioned that the addition of the infrared label alters how the drug behaves inside cells. “The modified drug doesn’t go to the same places as unmodified doxorubicin,” he explained. “However, if you engineer a linkage that breaks under certain conditions, you could potentially restore doxorubicin’s normal activity while keeping the infrared label inside the cell.”

The use of infrared spectroscopy in this context provides valuable insights into the behavior of cancer drugs within cells, aiding in the identification of treatment effectiveness and resistance among cancer cells. Richard remarked, “This gives researchers the template for how to do this with other drugs potentially.”

Craig Richard holds a PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, which he obtained in 2023. His primary research focus lies in developing infrared-active nanoparticle probes to study tumor microenvironments. Richard emphasizes the importance of effective communication in the scientific field, aiming to bridge the gap between researchers and diverse audiences. He can be contacted at [email protected].

This study, titled “Monitoring Molecular Uptake and Cancer Cells’ Response by Development of Quantitative Drug Derivative Probes for Chemical Imaging,” is published in the journal Analytical Chemistry and is supported by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering within the National Institutes of Health.