For many people with cancer, intravenous (IV) infusions of chemotherapy are their best chance at a cure. But these infusions can be inconvenient or inaccessible to patients, and some complications arise not from the active drug itself, but the infusion. Turning these drugs into pills could be transformative.
In a study published in Nature Communications , a team of researchers led by Mark Smith, the director of medicinal chemistry at Sarafan ChEM-H at Stanford University, has designed a small molecular tag that—when appended to almost any drug molecule—can make drugs normally administered through an IV effective as oral pills. It also makes pills more effective at lower doses. Through early trials in mice, the team showed that their version of oral paclitaxel, one of the most prescribed chemotherapy drugs for many common cancers, performed better than the typical IV dose.
"This is an embarrassingly simple solution to an old problem," said Smith. "With this strategy, we can accelerate a huge variety of new drugs through the clinic." "The impact of a nontoxic and effective oral paclitaxel could be enormous," said James Dickerson, a Stanford oncologist who specializes in breast cancer care and health equity.
Dickerson is not affiliated with the study. "It could lead to a better patient experience and, globally, it would increase access to care for patients with the most common cancers." Oil and water The journey of a pill from mouth to bloodstream has a few important stages.
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