Testing Chemotherapy Effectiveness in Microgravity
Research Aboard ISS Explores Mitigation of Cancer's Effects
Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide, with nearly 10 million people dying from the disease each year. Researchers from Connecticut-based startup Encapsulate recently turned to the microgravity conditions available through the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory to explore how to mitigate the effects of cancer and improve the lives of patients on Earth.
“Testing on the International Space Station provides an opportunity to evaluate our work with microtumors in an environment that more accurately mimics how cells behave inside the human body.”
Armin Rad, Encapsulate
For many living with cancer, treatment options can be a grueling trial-and-error process, as there are multiple drugs available for many types of cancer. Chemotherapy drugs work by killing the cancer cells within the body, but research has shown that for certain cancer types, nearly 80% of initial chemotherapy treatments do not work, which means that individuals have to endure multiple rounds of treatments.
Armin Rad, CEO of Encapsulate, is hoping that his company's research will help streamline cancer treatment and save patients from months of adverse side effects while improving their quality of life. To that end, his company sent engineered cancerous tumors to space to study how they behave in the microgravity environment.
“Testing on the International Space Station provides an opportunity to evaluate our work with microtumors in an environment that more accurately mimics how cells behave inside the human body,” he said.
The idea of testing tumor tissue outside the body isn’t new, but Encapsulate is hoping its unique tumor-on-a-chip approach better mimics a tumor’s in-body reaction to treatment. According to Rad, cells behave differently in microgravity, forming 3D structures that more closely resemble the growth and behavior of cells inside the human body. This type of cell growth is difficult to achieve terrestrially, which makes the space station an ideal test bed for tumor-related research.
“We know that cancer cells behave differently in space because of the microgravity conditions, but we don’t know yet how that will affect treatment efficacy, and that’s what we want to explore,” said Leila Daneshmandi, Encapsulate chief operating officer and cofounder.
The company aims to target colorectal, pancreatic, lung, and breast cancers to begin with and expand from there. Using colorectal and pancreatic cancer patient cells through Encapsulate’s established biobank, Rad and his team have validated the concept on the ground. By sending its project to space, Encapsulate aims to demonstrate that its automated tumor-on-a-chip system can grow patients’ cancer cells outside the human body and then use those cells to screen chemotherapeutic drugs for efficacy.
Results from this investigation will allow for improved decision-making to select the most effective course of treatment that can be tailored to each individual. Rad and Daneshmandi are hopeful that this type of technology could reduce an individual's treatment time, cut down on treatment costs, and even save lives.
Encapsulate’s investigation was awarded the Technology in Space Prize, funded by Boeing and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), manager of the ISS National Lab, through the MassChallenge startup accelerator program. Since the prize’s inception, approximately $20 million has been awarded for more than 30 projects, many of which have already launched to the space station.