A new Israeli study succeeded for the first time in the world of medicine in developing a biodegradable marker for mammography screening. After a marker was developed from natural and well-known substances, an experiment was conducted on animals, the results of which were promising - the toxicity of the substance was ruled out, and it disappeared from the animals' bodies within a few months
In the mammography examination process, when a tissue suspected of being cancerous is discovered, a biopsy sampling of that tissue is performed, and sometimes the tissue is even left for monitoring for several months to make sure there is no development of tumors. In order to mark the suspicious tissue for the benefit of medical treatment, a metallic marker measuring approximately 5 mm is injected into the subject's breast, which remains in the breast for the entire life of the subject. Prof. Zehava Galimidi, head of the mammography service at Rambam Hospital, was troubled by the fact that many women refuse to receive the metallic marker that usually remains in the woman's body until her death, so she turned toProf. Avi Domb, Head of the School of Pharmacy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, For him to develop a biodegradable marker that will disappear from the body after the end of the tests and the months of medical follow-up.
According to Prof. Domb, "A woman who undergoes a mammogram is forced to remain with a metallic marker in her body for her entire life, and sometimes more than one marker if there are several areas suspected of being cancerous in her body. The fear of those women to use the same non-perishable markers is understandable, and of course discouraging. In this study, our approach was to try and think about how to alleviate the distress of those women, to create markers that are biodegradable, polymers or organic materials, that may be compatible with the imaging systems used to perform a mammography examination. By the way, metallic components can move in the body and get out of it over the years in unwanted ways, so it is also understandable for me that it is better not to stay with those metals in the body for a long time."
According to the study, which was funded by the Innovation Authority in the Kamin program, first developed Biodegradable marker which can be seen in the conventional imaging devices, including MRI, ultrasound, and CT. Prof. Domb and his team at the Hebrew University used biodegradable materials approved for use in the human body, because the development of a product from new materials requires more approvals before starting experiments. Therefore, it was decided to use tiny rods of biodegradable polymers that are commonly used in the medical world that were implanted in animals and observed for over three months. Commonly used contrast agents such as barium sulfate and iodixanol were added to the polymers. The results of the study were promising and the marker was detected using the three imaging systems, CT, MRI and ultrasound, even three months after the transplant, and the marker decayed over time, until it disappeared.
Examination of the tissues in which the tiny rods were implanted did not reveal any signs of systemic toxicity in the animals. According to the results, the developed materials could be a potential replacement for metal-based markers," said the article detailing the scientific experiment, published in the journal ACS applied biomaterials, and cited in the weekly of the American Chemical Society. "Degradable polymer is made of materials that are sensitive to an aqueous environment," Prof. Domb adds and explains. "This is one of many materials that manage to degrade in the body like surgical sutures, nails for orthopedic needs where broken bones are fixed, so there is no fear of using them. In addition to being used in mammography, the biodegradable marker can mark tissues that need to be analyzed or tissues that need to be monitored for changes.
Dr. Moran Chaim Zeda from the Hebrew University, Prof. Zehava Galmidi from the Rambam Medical College, Prof. Avraham Niska from Tel Aviv University, and Dr. Michal Schlesinger from the Technion also participated in this study.
The Hebrew University in Jerusalem registered a patent for the cutting-edge technology and hopes to develop the product in the future with the help of investors. Until then, after the successful experiment on animals, Prof. Domb is looking for a factor who will be interested in initially developing the product for the benefit of the clinical trial phase on humans, to check if the product is able to fulfill its role and purpose in human tissues as well. "Let's hope we find a factor that will agree to finance it and then the road to developing the product for public use will be shortened", the researcher clarifies.
Breast cancer is the most common malignant disease in Israel and the Western world in general. About 5,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in Israel every year. As the disease is diagnosed in the early stages, the chances of cure increase to about 90%, among other things by performing a mammogram in time. According to the Cancer Society, it appears that the number of women who recover from breast cancer is steadily increasing thanks to early detection and thanks to the improvement of treatment methods and the widespread increase in awareness in Israel.
To read the article in full: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsabm.0c00655
