An Interventional Radiology Method for In Situ Assessments of Cancer Drug Response: Preclinical Development,...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Interventional Radiology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Nonsurgical methods for delivering localized therapies are crucial for advancing cancer treatment.
• Implantable microdevices (IMDs) offer a potential platform for targeted drug delivery and in situ assessment.
• Preclinical models are essential for evaluating the feasibility and safety of novel interventional techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the technical feasibility and safety of a nonsurgical interventional approach for implantable microdevice (IMD) placement and retrieval.
• To evaluate the efficacy of IMDs in delivering microdoses of chemotherapeutic agents to specific tumor regions in a preclinical model.
• To determine the potential of this technique for enabling in situ assessment of local drug effects.

Main Methods:

• A prospective preclinical study involving 12 rabbits with VX2 tumors.
• Placement and retrieval of multiple IMDs using an over-the-wire biopsy technique.
• Delivery of microdoses of doxorubicin, topotecan, and sunitinib to distinct tumor regions over 24-48 hours.
• Assessment of technical success based on retrieval of drug-exposed tumor regions and monitoring for adverse events.

Main Results:

• 100% technical success rate for IMD placement and retrieval per animal.
• Overall region-level retrieval success rate of 65% for drug-exposed sites.
• No adverse events of grade 2 or higher were observed; minor device dislodgement occurred without clinical impact.
• Average implantation and retrieval procedure times were 30.3 and 49.1 minutes, respectively.

Conclusions:

• Nonsurgical interventional placement and retrieval of IMDs in a soft tissue tumor model is technically feasible and safe.
• This approach enables the recovery of multiple drug-exposed regions for in situ analysis, facilitating personalized treatment evaluation.
• The technique holds promise for future clinical translation in oncology and interventional radiology applications.