The innovative breakthrough coincided with Breast Cancer Awareness Month and is the result of years of research

A groundbreaking treatment for breast cancer has been developed by researchers at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.

The study – led by Professor Avi Schroeder and Maya Kaduri, a PhD student at the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering – is based on the finding that cancer cells recruit the nerve cells around them to both stimulate and spread the disease. As a result, they have developed a treatment that targets the tumour through the nerve cells by injecting anaesthetic into the bloodstream to paralyse the communication between the nerve and cancer cells. 

Early results – tested on mice – have proven a significant inhibition of tumour development and mastitis to the lungs, brain and bone marrow, and the researchers believe it could have real-world implications for the treatment of breast cancer in humans.

Prof. Schroeder has years of experience developing innovative cancer treatments, using technologies that transport drugs to tumours without damaging healthy tissue.

“We know how to create the exact size of particles needed, and that is critical because it’s the key to penetrating the tumour,” Kaduri said. “The anesthetising particles we developed move through the bloodstream without penetrating healthy tissue.” 

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women, with approximately 11,500 women and 85 men in the UK dying from the disease each year.