HydroTheC · Biodegradable and Eco-friendly Smart Hydrogels for the Sustained Intraperitoneal Release of Chemotherapeutics as a Novel Local Therapy Approach for Advanced Ovarian Cancer

Biodegradable and Eco-friendly Smart Hydrogels for the Sustained Intraperitoneal Release of Chemotherapeutics as a Novel Local Therapy Approach for Advanced Ovarian Cancer

The general goal of the HydroTheC project is the development of a new non-toxic, natural, biocompatible, biodegradable, thermo-responsive, and injectable multidrug-loaded HG as an in situ depot system for the sustained intraperitoneal release of chemotherapeutics for ovarian cancer (OC) treatment. This new therapeutic tool is crucial to control the abdominal spread of reminiscent OC cells after the surgery, avoiding OC metastization, but can also be applied in the case of unresectable tumors, or as a coadjutant therapy for tumor reduction before its surgical removal. The designed formulation will ideally contribute to increasing the drugs' therapeutic window and avoiding the appearance of resistance to the therapy. Moreover, this local therapy approach would reduce the systemic side-effects and the number of needed administrations, which tremendously increases patients' welfare and contributes also to a reduction in hospital costs. Another general objective of HydroTheC is the creation of a “green” formulation, in terms of its composition (avoid petroleum derivatives) and preparation method, but also in terms of the environmental impact of its development, by using in silico prediction tools in the formulations optimization phase. Also, by using simple and low-cost production methods, as well as polymers and drugs already approved for human use, another goal of HydroTheC is to achieve a formulation that is easy to scale-up and translatable to the clinical practice. To achieve this, the specific objectives of HydroTheC are: 1. Selection of the formulation components 2. Use of in silico bioinformatic tools 3. Physic-chemical characterization of the formulation 4. Assess the biocompatibility and efficacy of the formulations in co-cultured and 3D in vitro models 5. Quantitative and qualitative determination of the biodistribution, pharmacokinetic, and therapeutic impact in terms of OC regression in in vivo models 6. Study the scale-up and stability of the formulation (e.g. sterilization, lyophilization, storage, etc.), as well as its possible translatability 7. Dissemination of the project results with the scientific community, citizenship, and potential stakeholders

Data: CORDIS, © European Union