Singapore, Sept. 4 -- Scientists from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore have developed microscopic peptide droplets that deliver large amounts of gene silencing molecules into cancer and immune cells, reducing the growth of hard-to-treat colorectal tumours by about 67 per cent in mice.

The patent-pending system uses small interfering RNA, or siRNA, to disrupt the production of two proteins that cancer cells exploit to evade attacks by the immune system.

In the animal study, the combined siRNA treatment suppressed tumour growth to a level comparable to a combination of anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 antibody treatments used as a benchmark. The researchers estimate that an siRNA-based approach could potentially cost five to 10 t...