Every year, the number of deaths due to breast cancer is in millions. The World Health Organization (WHO) data says that in the year 2022, 6 lakh 70 thousand lives were lost worldwide due to breast cancer. Breast cancer is the second biggest cause of cancer deaths in women. Now IIT Guwahati has taken one more step in its treatment. IIT Guwahati has developed an injectable hydrogel, which stores cancer drugs in a stable form and releases it slowly in the body as per the need. Let's understand about it.

What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer is a disease in which abnormal breast cells grow uncontrollably and form tumors. If left unchecked, the tumor can spread throughout the body and be life-threatening. While its earliest form is not life-threatening, when it grows, it becomes aggressive and can spread to other nearby organs. This is called metastasis, and can be life-threatening.

how is breast cancer treated

Treatment for breast cancer is based on the individual, the type of cancer, and its spread. Doctors may also use a variety of treatments to reduce the risk of cancer recurring, such as surgery to remove the breast tumor, radiation to reduce the risk of cancer recurring in nearby tissues, and medications to kill cancer cells and prevent them from growing, including hormonal therapy and chemotherapy.

What is hydrogel based therapy

This new hydrogel-based therapy from IIT Guwahati delivers anti-cancer drugs directly to the tumour, significantly reducing the side effects associated with conventional cancer treatment methods. This injectable hydrogel stores cancer drugs in a stable form and releases them slowly in the body as and when required, without harming healthy cells. The IIT researchers said that surgical removal of tumours is not always possible, especially for certain internal organs. While chemotherapy often affects both cancerous and healthy cells and damages healthy cells. Professor Dev Pratim Das and his team from the Department of Chemistry, IIT-Guwahati addressed these challenges by designing a hydrogel that precisely delivers drugs directly to the tumour, without causing harm.

How does this technology work

Injectable hydrogel is not a medicine but a store of anti-cancer drugs. It is like water which is a three-dimensional polymer network. It absorbs liquids and maintains its fluidity for a long time. This technology made of ultra-short peptides is such that it does not harm healthy cells and affects cancer cells and destroys them. Hydrogel affects only the place where cancer cells are present.