Reducing tissue hypoxia for cancer therapy

Hypoxia, i.e. a reduction in dissolved oxygen concentration below physiologically normal levels, has been identified as playing a critical role
in the progression of many types of disease and as a key determinant of the success of cancer treatment. It poses a particular challenge for treatments
such as radiotherapy, photodynamic and sonodynamic therapy which rely on the production of reactive oxygen species. Strategies for treating hypoxia have
included the development of hypoxia-selective drugs as well as methods for directly increasing blood oxygenation, e.g. hyperbaric oxygen therapy, pure
oxygen or carbogen breathing, ozone therapy, hydrogen peroxide injections and administration of suspensions of oxygen carrier liquids. To date, however,
these approaches have delivered limited success either due to lack of proven efficacy and/or unwanted side effects. Gas microbubbles, stabilised by a
biocompatible shell have been used as ultrasound contrast agents for several decades and have also been widely investigated as a means of promoting drug
delivery. This talk will present our recent research on the use of micro and nanobubbles to deliver both drug molecules and oxygen simultaneously to a
tumour to facilitate treatment.