Results of a new research that was presented at the American Chemical Society conference in California, San Diego, during the weekend claimed to be successful in deliver cancer medications through the skin via an experimental patch. The initial trials were done on mice and human skin samples.

The patch based treatment targeted at melanoma, a deadly but highly treatable form of skin cancer, has been developed by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The patch is able to be applied and removed from the skin within just a minute because it its thickness is less than a centimeter long and is coated with a sticky film.

The treatment used by the scientists comprised of delivering an antigen in healthy mice through the especially developed patch and then the outcome effect of the antigen on the immune response of the test mice to treatment methods that are traditionally used to often to vaccinate against the flu and measles. The patch elicited “a robust antibody response” and “show promise in eliciting a strong immune response in human skin,” said the researchers.

“Our patch technology could be used to deliver vaccines to combat different infectious diseases,” Dr. Paula Hammond, the head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT and lead author in the study, said in a statement. “But we are excited by the possibility that the patch is another tool in the oncologists’ arsenal against cancer, specifically melanoma.”

This new patch delivery system developed by the scientists has the good potential to implementing new methods for treatment of skin cancer which is one of the most common form of cancer that is prevalent in the United States.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than necessary exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun or other sources such as indoor tanning are the among the causes of melanoma. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, 20 Americans die each day from melanoma and almost 100,000 new cases of the disease are diagnosed every year.

A process that the scientists of the study call layer-by-layer coating, was used for making of microneedles which is attached to the patch. The advantages of this patch based treatment over syringe are that it is painless, easy to administer and reduces risk of infection, said researchers.

The researchers said that in comparison to intramuscular injections, used for flu shots, this new patch based treatment method was able to generate at least nine times the level of infection-fighting antibodies. The researchers further said that compared to subcutaneous injections, 160 times the level of antibodies was also produced in this patch based treatment. subcutaneous injections are  often used for measles vaccines.

The researchers however also said that this new treatment method would now have to be tested on melanoma tumors in mice and later humans, while claiming that the tests so far have been promising. The aim of the researchers is to obtain regulatory approval by regulators across the world so that it could be used in the market.

(Adapted from CNBC.com)