North Carolina researchers have developed a new way to deliver cancer drugs that target tumors using a biodegradable “liquid metal” that may boost the effectiveness of chemotherapy.

The advance – reported in the journal Nature Communications, by researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – could give doctors a new weapon in the war on cancer.

"The advance here is that we have a drug-delivery technique that may enhance the effectiveness of the drugs being delivered, can help doctors locate tumors, can be produced in bulk, and appears to be wholly biodegradable with very low toxicity," said Zhen Gu, an assistant professor at NC State and UNC-CH.

"And one of the advantages of this technique is that these liquid metal drug carriers – or 'nano-terminators' – are very easy to make."

When added to the liquid metal, the anticancer drug doxorubicin (Dox) is absorbed into tiny droplets that can then be separated from the solution and introduced into the bloodstream, which carries them to tumor cells.

The cancer cells then absorb the droplets and drugs, which then destroy the tumors without affecting healthy cells.

"Based on in-vitro tests, we believe the liquid metal degrades completely in a matter of days into a form that the body can successfully absorb or filter out, without notable toxic effects," said Yue Lu, a Ph.D. student in Gu's lab.

The researchers have tested the liquid metal technique in mice and found that it is significantly more effective than Dox alone at blocking the growth of ovarian cancer tumors.

"This was a proof-of-concept study, but very encouraging," Gu said. "Like the fictional Terminator, this carrier is transformable: smashed from bulk material, fused inside cancer cells and eventually degraded and cleared. We are hoping to do additional testing in a large animal study to get closer to potential clinical trials."