Breast implant deters cancer cells

UNTIL recently, breast implants have served as a way to make a woman’s silhouette more attractive or symmetrical. However, the results of a recent study conducted by researchers from Brown University have demonstrated that implants may have another, more important use as a way to deter the growth of cancer cells.

Researchers at Brown University have created an implant that appears to deter breast cancer cell regrowth. Made from a common US FDA-approved polymer, the implant is the first to be modified at the nanoscale in a way that causes a reduction in the blood-vessel architecture that breast cancer tumours depend upon, while also attracting healthy endothelial cells for breast tissue. Results are published in Nanotechnology*.

The key lies in the surface of the implant, which was modified at the nanoscale to create a “bed of nails” surface. The implant is made of 23-nanometer-diameter polystyrene beads and polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), a biodegradable polymer approved by the FDA used widely in clinical settings, which results in a surface covered with adjoining, 23-nanometer-high pimples.

“We’ve created an (implant) surface with features that can at least decrease (cancerous) cell functions without having to use chemotherapeutics, radiation, or other processes to kill cancer cells,” said Thomas Webster, associate professor of Engineering and the corresponding author on the paper. “It’s a surface that’s hospitable to healthy breast cells and less so for cancerous breast cells.”

Because cancer cells are relatively stiff compared to healthy cells, they are unable to wrap around the bumpy surface of the implant. This reduces the blood-vessel architecture on which breast cancer tumours depend, while also attracting healthy endothelial cells for breast tissue. In lab tests, after just one day the surface of the implant showed a 15% decrease in the production of the protein VEGF upon which endothelial breast cancer cells depend, compared to an implant surface with no surface modification.

Professor Webster said the implant’s features can at least decrease cell functions without chemotherapeutics, radiation, or other cancer-killing processes, yet still be friendly to healthy breast cells.

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