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US 7,001,616 B2Granted
Microspheres for use in the treatment of cancer
AssigneeUniversity of Florida
InventorsChristopher D. Batich, Adam Leckey, J. Nicolas Vauthey
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AssigneeUniversity of Florida
InventorsChristopher D. Batich, Adam Leckey, J. Nicolas Vauthey
Estimating the term…
The subject invention pertains to novel materials and methods for use in treating patients afflicted with oncological disorders, such as tumors. One aspect of the invention concerns methods for treating tumors comprising the administration of drug loaded pH-sensitive microspheres to a patient in need of anticancer therapy. The pH-sensitive microspheres have a swelling transition with the pH range found in or near tumor tissue. When the microspheres swell, the loaded drug is released into the microenvironment of the tumor tissue. The subject invention also pertains to novel microspheres useful in the methods of the invention. The microspheres are capable of effectively releasing a loaded substance at a predetermined pH. The subject invention also concerns novel methods for synthesizing the microspheres of the present invention.
A method of treating a patient having a tumor, said method comprising administering to the patient an effective amount of non-degradable microspheres containing a substance that is inhibitory or toxic to said tumor, wherein said microspheres comprise a cross-linked polymer gel having a first hydrophobic monomer, a second hydrophobic monomer, wherein said second hydrophobic monomer is ionizable and less hydrophobic than said first hydrophobic monomer, and weakly acidic or weakly basic pendant groups;
A method for preparing microspheres, said method comprising mixing a first hydrophobic monomer, a second hydrophobic monomer, wherein the second hydrophobic monomer is ionizable and less hydrophobic than the first hydrophobic monomer, and a cross-linking agent to produce a monomer solution;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.