Punching (ovarian) cancer with RNA knuckles (EGFR siRNA in mice)

Press Release

A novel targeted therapy using nanoparticles has enabled researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology to purge ovarian tumors in limited, in vivo tests in mice. "The dramatic effect we see is the massive reduction or complete eradication of the tumor, when the 'nanohydrogel' treatment is given in combination with existing chemotherapy," said chief researcher John McDonald.
That nanohydrogel is a minute gel pellet that honed in on malignant cells with a payload of an RNA strand. The RNA entered the cell, where it knocked down a protein gone awry that is involved in many forms of cancer.
In trials on mice, it put the brakes on ovarian cancer growth and broke down resistance to chemotherapy.....

...The researchers from Georgia Tech's School of Biological Sciences published their results on Monday, November 7, 2016, in the journal Scientific Reports. Research was funded by the National Institutes of Health's IMAT Program, the Ovarian Cancer Institute, the Deborah Nash Endowment Fund, the Curci Foundation and the Markel Foundation.
The new treatment has not been tested on humans, and research would be required by science and by law to demonstrate consistent results - efficacy - among other things, before preliminary human trials could become possible.....