New project on bioactive glass applications in bone cancer treatment
A new project investigating bioactive glasses in bone cancer treatment has recently started in our Institute in collaboration with Dr. Jörg Fellenberg and Dr. Fabian Westhauser, Clinic for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, Heidelberg University Hospital, funded by the Cancer Research Society (“Deutsche Krebshilfe”), Bonn, Germany. In this project, bioactive glasses of specific compositions in particulate form and with the ability to release biologically active ions are tested to treat giant-cell tumours of bone. Ions to be investigated include zinc, magnesium and boron. The bioactive glass particles should form locally an in-situ carbonated hydroxyapatite phase when they are in contact with biological fluids, which is responsible for the close interaction of the particles with bone tissue. The research will elucidate if the new ion releasing bioactive glasses will have an effect on cancer cells, to be tested by the collaborators in Heidelberg, e.g. it should be investigated if ions released from the bioactive glass particles, in specific concentrations, can selectively kill cancer cells. Such findings could lead in future to alternative treatment of bone cancer.
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