Aloe-Alginate Hydrogels for Cervical Cancer Treatment: Antioxidant and Drug Release Activity
Conference Year
January 2019
Abstract
Cervical carcinoma is the second most prevalent cancer affecting women today. The human papilloma virus (HPV) is a common precursor to cervical carcinoma, and greatly increases a woman’s risk of developing cervical cancer if contracted. The current state of the field relies heavily upon screening and pre-clinical testing to prevent cervical carcinoma and detect it as early as possible. When cervical cancer develops treatment is limited; patients undergo a hysterectomy followed by both local radiation and systemic chemotherapeutic treatment. Localized chemotherapeutic delivery greatly reduces the adverse effects of chemotherapy and may be employed as radiation sensitizers are adjuvant therapies. For non-traditional therapy, aloe vera (barbadensis miller) is investigated for medicinal purposes: it is an antioxidant, beneficial for the natural vaginal biome, and promotes re-epithelization of the cervix. Alginate is studied as a drug delivery vehicle for its non-toxic cross-linking ability. The current study aims to develop an aloe/alginate hydrogel for the localized delivery of a chemotherapeutic to the cervix. It was hypothesized that the natural-based hydrogels will exhibit appropriate mechanical properties and anti-cancer biological activity based on antioxidant level [1,2, 3] and drug encapsulation and release.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
Rachael Oldinski
Graduate Student Mentors
Ceres Rafiq
Faculty/Staff Collaborators
Patrick Charron (Laboratory Technician)
Status
Undergraduate
Student College
College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences
Program/Major
Biomedical Engineering
Primary Research Category
Engineering & Physical Sciences
Secondary Research Category
Biological Sciences
Aloe-Alginate Hydrogels for Cervical Cancer Treatment: Antioxidant and Drug Release Activity
Cervical carcinoma is the second most prevalent cancer affecting women today. The human papilloma virus (HPV) is a common precursor to cervical carcinoma, and greatly increases a woman’s risk of developing cervical cancer if contracted. The current state of the field relies heavily upon screening and pre-clinical testing to prevent cervical carcinoma and detect it as early as possible. When cervical cancer develops treatment is limited; patients undergo a hysterectomy followed by both local radiation and systemic chemotherapeutic treatment. Localized chemotherapeutic delivery greatly reduces the adverse effects of chemotherapy and may be employed as radiation sensitizers are adjuvant therapies. For non-traditional therapy, aloe vera (barbadensis miller) is investigated for medicinal purposes: it is an antioxidant, beneficial for the natural vaginal biome, and promotes re-epithelization of the cervix. Alginate is studied as a drug delivery vehicle for its non-toxic cross-linking ability. The current study aims to develop an aloe/alginate hydrogel for the localized delivery of a chemotherapeutic to the cervix. It was hypothesized that the natural-based hydrogels will exhibit appropriate mechanical properties and anti-cancer biological activity based on antioxidant level [1,2, 3] and drug encapsulation and release.