New paper on the use of plasma-treated, chemotherapy-loaded hydrogels as a novel approach to local tumor management

In a new collaborative study published in Advanced Functional Materials by Milica Živanić et al, the members of PlasmaMED Lab and the Center for Oncological Research (CORE) at the University of Antwerp (Belgium) present the use of plasma-treated, chemotherapy-loaded hydrogels as a novel approach to treat tumors.

Plasma treatment enriches the hydrogel with reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, which may act synergistically with chemotherapy to target the tumor more effectively. Unlike drug-only treatment, our dual-therapy hydrogel reduced tumor weight after a single administration and also lowered the levels of a protein associated with chemoresistance. In contrast, treatment with the drug alone led to activation of resistance pathways. Finally, by using a plasma-treated hydrogel, lower doses of chemotherapy were needed to kill cancer cells.

Together, the results suggest that using plasma-treated hydrogels as drug vehicles could help sensitize cancer cells to the drug and lower the systemic drug dose.

You can read the full Open Access paper by following the link: 

M. Živanić, A. Espona-Noguera, A. Privat Maldonado, P. Matušů, F. Tampieri, M.P. Ginebra, A. Lin, E. Smits, A. Bogaerts, C. Canal. Plasma-Treated Hydrogel for Combined RONS and Chemotherapy Delivery: A Proof-of-Concept In Ovo. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2025, e02779.  doi: doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202502779