THERACAGE - Polymeric cell encapsulation for localized tumour treatment
Inoperable malignant tumours are treated with radiation and systemic chemotherapy, both treatments leading to a high prevalence of co-morbidity. Our aim is to enable localised chemotherapy to allow for a higher toxic drug concentration at the tumour site, while excusing the rest of the body from toxicity.
For this purpose, we develop precisely controlled polymer encapsulation of therapeutic cells prior to their implantation into a tumour. The therapeutic cells are genetically modified to convert a mild systemic drug into a high toxic compound that acts locally at the implantation site.
The cell capsules are fabricated using a droplet microfluidic system built in an OSTE+ microfluidic chip. We developed a novel polymerization scheme to produce microscale cell capsules with a well-controlled core-shell structure of diameter 100 mm. The whole working flow of this project is shown below:
Sponsors
- Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- Stockholm County Council
Partners
- Karolinska University Hospital
- Karolinska Institutet.
Project members
The following organisations are members of the project:
KTH
Karolinska University Hospital
- Matthias Löhr
- John-Inge Jonson
Karolinska Institutet
- Rainer Heuchel
Publications related to this project
- Ultrarapid synthesis of microbeads with tuneable surface probe density
- Core-Shell Microparticle Synthesis In Droplet Microfluidics Using A Single Step Polymerization
- OSTE+ microfluidic devices with lithographically defined hydrophobic/ hydrophilic patterns and biocompatible chip sealing : OSTEmer Allows Easy Fabrication of Microfluidic Chips
- Rapid Fabrication Of OSTE+ Microfluidic Devices With Lithographically Defined Hydrophobic/ Hydrophilic Patterns And Biocompatible Chip Sealing