•Mesothelioma
is an aggressive cancer covering anatomic surfaces (e.g.
lining of the lungs, heart, abdomen, etc.) that resists multi-modality
therapies. Regional recurrence of mesothelioma from residual tumor cells
prevents long-term benefits after surgical resection. Furthermore, there is no
clinical consensus on intracavitary
adjuvants that are effective in extending the tumor reduction effect of surgery
•A
new technology developed which fulfills this unmet clinical need by providing a
local regional therapeutic platform to shuttle cancer-specific microRNA,
thereby circumventing systemic administration challenges
•Nanoparticles
comprised of microRNA bound to disordered peptides that are embedded in a
hydrogel engineered from self-assembling β-hairpin peptides
•After
administration of a single application, this hydrogel composite produced a
durable pre-clinical response in multiple xenograft cancer models
•In
principle, this localized regional treatment strategy could be applied to other
surface cancers
