Localized antitumor therapy via mitochondrial apoptosis with siRNA-loaded metallo-alginate hydrogels

Introduction:

Tumor resection is the first standard care to therapeutically treat melanomas, one of the most lethal and metastatic malignancies in skin cancer. Even though surgery is widely used, patients suffer from post-treatment recurrence and metastasis due to an incomplete surgical resection. Therefore, there is a clinical need to develop adjuvant biomaterials to potentiate the death of remaining cancer cells preventing tumor recurrence or metastasis. 

Margalida Artigues Cladera – Professor, Electrochemical and bionalysis, Institut Químic de Sarrià - Universitat Ramon Llull; Natalia Rodriguez-Camenforte – Undergraduate, Bioengineering, Institut Químic de Sarrià - Universitat Ramon Llull; Giovanni Sitia – Doctor, Experimental Hepatology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute; Marta Guerra-Rebollo – Professor, Bioengineering, Institut Químic de Sarrià - Universitat Ramon Llull; Salvador Borros – Professor, Bioengineering, Institut Químic de Sarrià - Universitat Ramon Llull; Cristina Fornaguera Puigvert – Professor, Bioengineering, Institut Químic de Sarrià - Universitat Ramon Llull