Professor Kang Seung-kyun of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University said on the 10th that his research team developed a chemotherapy technology that precisely delivers anticancer drugs to the core of tumor tissues, effectively treating solid cancers without side effects, through joint research with Lee Hyo-jin, a principal researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Kim Jeong-hyun, a professor at Kwangwoon University, and Kim Seong-chan, a professor at Gyeongsang National University.
In the case of solid tumors with dense tissues, even if anticancer drugs are administered, the drugs often do not penetrate deeply into the tumor tissue, resulting in diminished therapeutic effects. To enhance the drug's efficacy, even with repeated high doses of anticancer drugs, the toxicity of the drugs could spread to surrounding normal areas, causing serious side effects, or lead to increased resistance to the drugs, rapidly reducing their effectiveness.
The research team developed a precise drug delivery platform after inserting wireless devices into the body, allowing drugs released by the device to selectively move toward the tumor tissue via an electric field and effectively penetrate the interior of the tumor tissue. This utilizes the "electrokinetic" method to move ions or ionized substances.
This system can release drugs solely by adjusting the voltage and can penetrate the drug deep into the core of the tumor tissue through the generated electric field. It is also designed to operate wirelessly without external power connections through Near Field Communication (NFC), and to integrate storage, release, penetration, and quantitative control into a single device.
As a result of applying the developed system in animal experiments, the drug delivery efficiency was more than four times higher compared to existing injection methods, and the tumor size was reduced to below 50%. No damage to major organs such as the liver and kidneys, or to normal tissues, was observed during the five-week implantation experiments.
Professor Kang Seung-kyun noted, "This technology integrates the storage, release, and penetration of drugs into a single implantable wireless system, which is expected to enable precise and effective cancer treatment in the future,” and added, “We plan to develop it into a platform that can be applied to various diseases."
Principal researcher Lee Hyo-jin explained, "This technology is a practical drug delivery solution that increases treatment efficiency while minimizing side effects" and noted, "We are actively promoting follow-up research for commercialization and clinical application."
The results of this research were published in the international academic journal Science Advances on the 10th.
References
Science Advances (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ads9269