The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, in collaboration with Bose Institute, Kolkata, has developed an advanced injectable hydrogel for localized cancer treatment.

This innovation promises to significantly reduce the side effects typically associated with conventional cancer therapies such as chemotherapy and surgery.

Advertisement

Published in the prestigious Materials Horizons journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the research addresses major challenges in cancer treatment.

Professor Debapratim Das from IIT Guwahati’s Department of Chemistry  said that the traditional methods often face severe limitations. Surgical removal of tumors can be impractical for internal organs, while chemotherapy’s systemic delivery impacts both cancerous and healthy cells, leading to debilitating side effects.

“Our hydrogel is designed to deliver anti-cancer drugs directly to the tumor site, ensuring precise and localized action. This minimizes harm to healthy tissues and reduces systemic side effects,” Das said.

Hydrogels are water-based, three-dimensional polymer networks that mimic living tissue, making them ideal for biomedical applications. The newly developed hydrogel acts as a stable reservoir for anti-cancer drugs, releasing them in a controlled manner in response to specific conditions in the tumor microenvironment.

Composed of ultra-short peptides—biocompatible and biodegradable building blocks of proteins—the hydrogel remains insoluble in biological fluids, ensuring it stays at the injection site.

It responds to elevated glutathione (GSH) levels, a molecule abundant in tumor cells, to trigger a controlled release of the drug.

In preclinical trials using a murine model of breast cancer, the hydrogel demonstrated remarkable efficacy.

A single injection, loaded with the chemotherapy drug Doxorubicin, achieved approximately 75% reduction in tumor size within 18 days. Importantly, the hydrogel stayed localized at the tumor site, steadily releasing the drug and avoiding detectable side effects on other organs.

“The hydrogel enhances drug uptake by cancer cells, induces cell cycle arrest, and promotes programmed cell death. This multi-pronged approach boosts its therapeutic potential while reducing toxicity,” Das explained.

This innovative drug delivery system improves the effectiveness of anti-cancer drugs, allowing for reduced dosages and minimizing adverse effects. Laboratory studies confirmed that the hydrogel optimizes drug absorption by cancer cells, providing a targeted and efficient treatment method.

Looking ahead, the researchers are conducting further studies to explore the hydrogel’s maximum tumor reduction capabilities and its efficacy against other types of tumors.

“Once these studies are complete, we plan to move to clinical trials and are seeking partners to advance this promising technology,” Das said.