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February 3, 2025

Q&A: UW researchers are designing cancer therapeutics that can kill cancer cells and restore healthy tissue

Many traditional cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation, effectively destroy cancer cells but often lead to severe side effects that leave patients feeling even more sick.

Two University of Washington researchers are developing treatments that aim to simultaneously treat cancer and improve patients’ quality of life. Miqin Zhang, UW professor of materials science and engineering and of neurological surgery in the UW School of Medicine, develops tiny systems that deliver cancer treatment specifically to cancer cells. Dr. Avik Som, UW assistant professor of materials science and engineering and of radiology in the UW School of Medicine, uses interventional radiology to precisely deliver cancer treatment to the body.

Both Zhang and Som are studying a cancer treatment method called immunotherapy, where a patient’s own immune cells are trained to target and destroy cancer cells. The two researchers are now collaborating with the goal of getting their therapeutics into the clinic.

For World Cancer Day, UW News asked Zhang and Som to discuss their novel materials and how these materials can treat both the cancer and the patient.

Tell us about your research in this area. 

Miqin Zhang: One of our key research areas is developing biocompatible nanoplatforms for cancer diagnosis, treatment and therapy-response monitoring. For example, one of our recent advances is using tiny particles called nanoparticles to deliver immunotherapies or vaccines in preclinical animal models. The payloads from these nanoparticles activate immune cells to eradicate drug-resistant solid tumors and metastases.

In general, our nanoplatforms provide tumor specificity in two unique ways:

• The nanoparticles can carry diverse payloads — including chemotherapeutics and genetic materials — to address tumor heterogeneity
• We can use different methods to trigger our nanoparticles to release their payloads, such as changing the temperature or pH. Other methods include using enzymes or magnetic fields.

Our systems are designed for versatility and can work in tandem with various tumor-targeting and therapeutic agents.

Avik Som: I am a physician-scientist with clinical training in interventional radiology, with a specific focus in interventional oncology. In this field we often deliver therapy directly to single lesions using small needles and wires. This eliminates the need for invasive surgery in patients who are often too sick for surgery.

My research expertise has focused on developing novel drug delivery materials and techniques for interventional radiologists to use, including in the field of immunotherapy. Interventional radiologists have long succeeded at delivering therapy highly precisely within the body. Using the best of material science, my lab looks at changing what we’re delivering to heal our patients of both their cancer and the underlying ravages that the cancer has caused.

How can your materials both extend patients’ lives and improve their quality of life?

MZ: Our new nanoparticle materials promise more effective and less harmful treatments in a variety of ways. First, the nanoparticles target cancer cells specifically, which minimizes side effects and enables controlled drug release to maintain therapeutic levels without toxicity spikes.

Next, we design these nanoparticles using biocompatible materials, such as iron oxide and chitosan coatings, which reduce immune-response reactions and make the nanoparticles more compatible with long-term use.

Cancer’s complex and variable nature means that treatments that are effective for one patient might not work for another, which makes it difficult to create one-size-fits-all solutions. But our nanoparticles support personalized medicine because we can target specific mutated genes in individual patients. Furthermore, we can develop nanoparticles that are multifunctional. For example, a single nanoparticle can have capabilities that enable both monitoring as well as treatment.

AS: The concepts of extending patients’ lives and improving their quality of life have effectively been done in parallel for years. For example, the UW has extensive history and expertise in tissue engineering. But it usually isn’t combined with cancer care because the two goals often feel contradictory: Tissue engineering results from inducing cell growth, while historically cancer therapy has directly focused on killing cells. So the fields have diverged.

But we can design novel materials to do both: One material can use different release rates to stagger the anti-cancer versus tissue-engineering effects. For example, we can use interventional radiology to implant a material directly into a tumor. The material can have an initial burst of drug release that has an anti-cancer effect. And then, after killing the tumor, the residual material can release factors that recruit normal cells to fill in the gap where the cancer was.

Alternatively, as radiologists, we can see where cancer is and isn’t. It is therefore possible to selectively deliver anti-cancer agents to the cancer, while simultaneously delivering pro-tissue engineering agents to normal tissue.

Are any of these treatments currently available in the clinic?

MZ: The process of getting a treatment like this approved is complex and resource-intensive, because it requires extensive research, clinical trials and regulatory approvals. To reduce clinical trial costs, our nanoparticle platform is adaptable for multiple genetic therapies, which offers regulatory advantages and paves the way for FDA approval.

Right now, our nanoparticles are still at the basic research stage and have not yet entered clinical trials. They have, however, demonstrated their efficacy in various pre-clinical animal models. We are now prepared to engage with venture capitalists and major pharmaceutical companies to advance our nanoparticles into clinical trials.

AS: Our research is also still in the basic stage for the moment. We need to determine the best type of material and safest way to deliver it into patients through rigorous pre-clinical testing.

That being said, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and UW Medicine, we are leading an intratumoral therapy group that is ramping up clinical trials for patients using therapies that are in development around the country. In addition, we are working on bringing on more minimally invasive tissue engineering trials to the clinic soon.

What part of this collaboration is the most exciting to you?

AS: I was fortunate to meet Miqin during my interview at UW, and we struck up a vibrant conversation. Miqin has been a leader in the fields of biomaterials and drug delivery, and she is an ideal mentor to help me with my goal of bringing these advances to the clinic.

MZ: I have more than 15 years of experience in cancer research, and I strongly believe that interventional radiology is transforming cancer care by offering minimally invasive, precise treatment options that reduce side effects and improve patient outcomes. I am thrilled to collaborate with Avik so that we can apply our advanced materials and his innovative approaches to enhance interventional radiology for cancer treatment and tissue growth in a way that minimizes side effects and improves patients’ quality of life.

Zhang’s research is funded by the Kuni Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Zhang is also a faculty researcher with the UW Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems and the Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute. Som’s research has been funded by the Radiologic Society of North America and the National Institutes of Health.

For more information, contact Zhang at mzhang@uw.edu and Som at aviksom@uw.edu.

Tag(s): Avik Som • College of Engineering • Department of Materials Science & Engineering • Department of Neurological Surgery • Department of Radiology • Miqin Zhang • UW Medicine

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