Breakthrough drug-eluting patch stops scar growth, reduces scar tissues

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Scars — in particular keloid scars that result from overgrowth of skin tissue after injuries or surgeries — are unsightly and can even lead to disfigurement and psychological problems of affected patients. Individuals with darker pigmentation — in particular people with African, Hispanic or South-Asian genetic background — are more likely to develop this skin tissue disorder. Current therapy options, including surgery and injections of corticosteroids into scar tissues, are often ineffective, require clinical supervision and can be costly.A new invention by researchers from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore (reported in the current issue of TECHNOLOGY) provides a simple, affordable and — most importantly — highly effective way for patients to self-treat keloid scars. The team of scientists and engineers from NTU’s School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, in collaboration with clinicians from Singapore’s National Skin Centre, have developed a special patch made from polymers fabricated into microneedles, which are loaded with the US food and drug administration (FDA)-approved scar-reducing drug, 5-fluorouracil. Self-administered by patients, the microneedles attach the patch to scar tissue and allow sustained drug-release (one patch per night). The drug as well as the physical contact of the microneedles with the scar tissue contributes to the efficacy of the device, leading to the cessation of scar tissue growth and a considerable reduction of keloids as demonstrated in laboratory cultures and experiments with animals. “Most patients seek treatment due to disfigurement and/or pain or itch of scars,” says Assistant Professor Xu Chenjie from NTU who leads the study. “We wanted to develop a simple, convenient, and cost-effective device able to inhibit keloid growth in skin tissue and reduce the size of disfiguring scars,” adds Yuejun Kang, another key investigator in the study from NTU.”Self-administered treatment for keloid scars can reduce the economic burden on the healthcare system and provide a treatment option for patients who have limited access to medical care,” comments Professor Jeffrey Karp from Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School, US, an expert on medical device design who was not involved in this study.Story Source:The above story is based on materials provided by World Scientific. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.


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Blacks, Hispanics, older people not benefitting equally from better colon cancer treatment

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While new and better treatments have improved the odds of survival for patients diagnosed late stage colorectal cancer, that progress has been largely confined to non-Hispanic whites and Asians and those under age 65, according to a new study. American Cancer Society researchers led by Helmneh Sineshaw, M.D., MPH, find there have been no significant increases in survival rates for Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks with metastatic colon cancer. The study, appearing in the January issue of Cancer Causes and Control, concludes that the findings underscore the need for concerted efforts to increase access to new treatments for minority groups and older patients, as well as a better understanding of the factors contributing to the disparities in survival.For their study, researchers analyzed data from the 13 population-based cancer registries of the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, which covers about 14 percent of the United States population. They looked at survival improvement for metastatic colorectal cancer across major ethnic groups and two broad age ranges (20-64 and over 65 years). Just fewer than 50,000 patients (49,893) were included in the analysis.The analysis found overall five-year survival rates increased significantly between 1992/1997 and 2004/2009 for non-Hispanic whites (9.8% to 15.7%) and for Asians (11.4% 17.7%). The increases were not statistically significant for non-Hispanic blacks (8.6% to 9.8%) or Hispanics (14.0% to 16.4%). And while survival rates increased significantly for those 65 and over for non-Hispanic whites, those increases were much smaller than the increase among those ages 20 to 64.The authors conclude that increases in survival from metastatic colorectal cancer, presumably from improvements in treatment, has been largely confined to younger non-Hispanic whites and Asians, and that there has been no statistically significant increase in survival for non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics.”We know from previous studies that when people of any race get equal care they have similar outcomes,” said Dr. Sineshaw. “But studies show there are significant inequalities in the dissemination of new treatments, likely leading to the gaps in survival our analysis found. The reasons why ethnic minorities are not getting equal treatment are complicated, but likely include poorer health coming into the system and lower socioeconomic status, which clearly leads to barriers to good health care. …


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