Researchers are working on a revolutionary new device that could be implanted directly into cancer patients to deliver constant immunotherapy treatment without lengthy hospital stays. The project, led by researchers from Rice University, just received a $45 million grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, a new agency established last year.
The project and team are named “THOR,” an acronym for “targeted hybrid oncotherapeutic regulation.” Their new implant, a “hybrid advanced molecular manufacturing regulator,” goes by the shorthand “HAMMR.” Although the THOR team is still in the early stages of development, they are optimistic that HAMMR could be tested on humans within a few years.
The HAMMR device, which researchers describe as “smaller than a crayon or human finger,” would be implanted directly into patients via a minimally invasive procedure. Once in, it continuously monitors a patient’s cancer and actively adjusts medication disbursement “in real-time.”
Dr. Amir Jazaeri, one of the THOR researchers, says he believes HAMMR “could transform the status quo by providing real-time data from the tumor environment that can in turn guide more effective and tumor-informed novel therapies.”
“Cancer cells are continually evolving and adapting to therapy,” Jazaeri explains. “Currently available diagnostic tools, including radiologic tests, blood assays and biopsies, provide very infrequent and limited snapshots of this dynamic process.”
But the THOR team is hopeful that the HAMMR implant can radically improve the effectiveness of cancer treatments by changing what amount and type of medication patients are given based on how the cancer cells are mutating. Moreover, it should be able to do so without requiring patients to be hooked up to hospital beds for significant periods of time.
The treatment method is referred to in the medical community as “closed loop therapy.” Although the technology involved in the HAMMR implant is significantly more complex, the concept is the same as glucose monitors for diabetics. In that case, the monitor wirelessly communicates with a pump to dispense insulin as needed. This replaces the burdensome process of diabetics having to check their blood sugar levels every few hours.
The THOR team is hopeful that in addition to improving cancer patients’ quality of life, HAMMR will also decrease cancer mortality rates. Because the current process for diagnosing cancer and developing a treatment plan is lengthy, many cancers have time to grow and spread. With the HAMMR implant, doctors could potentially begin dispensing life-saving medication in a fraction of the time most treatments take to begin.
Another major benefit of the HAMMR implant is that it allows patients to avoid painful and potentially dangerous surgeries and radiation treatments. Patients would be able to live almost normal lives as they are treating their cancer.
The first clinical trials for the HAMMR implant will focus on ovarian cancer, which often goes undetected until it has spread and is more difficult to treat. On average, more than 10,000 women die every year from ovarian cancer.
The THOR team also believes that their HAMMR implant will be effective against cancers that affect the pancreas, liver, lungs, and other organs.
With $45 million in fresh funding, researchers are optimistic that human trials could begin within a few years. Overall, the THOR team has said that the HAMMR implant could slash U.S. cancer deaths by 50 percent.
In an era of deep partisan divisions, the mission to fight cancer has been one of the few eras of bipartisan cooperation. Although President Biden has been roundly criticized for his false statements that he “ended cancer as we know it,” his administration has worked with both Republicans and Democrats in Congress to help provide funding for researchers like the THOR team. The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, which provided the $45 million grant to the THOR team, was created last year with the support of Congress and the White House.
The HAMMR implant could mean a dramatic reduction in cancer deaths within just the next few years. Amid all the negative storylines dominating mainstream media coverage, this is one to celebrate.
