A research group at the University of Salamanca works on the development and validation of an aerosol containing nanoparticles vectorized to treat human lung carcinoma.

The project was awarded in the XVIII call for research grants of the Ramón Areces Foundation. This project aims to develop and validate in vivo an aerosol consisting of vectorized particles capable of locally and selectively treating human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). For this, nanoparticles (200 nm) consisting of two types of biopolymers, levan and alginate will be prepared. Both will be functionalized on the surface with cisplatin and EGF (epithelial growth factor). In addition, to check for potential synergy in treatment, cisplatin and paclitaxel (PTX) will be combined in the same nanoparticle.

This methodology will allow comparing the efficacy of two types of biodegradable polymers as vectors of the same size (approximately 200 nm). The kinetics of drug release in both types of particles will be studied.