TED2016
Laura Indolfi: Good news in the fight against pancreatic cancer
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Anyone who has lost a loved one to pancreatic cancer knows the devastating speed with which it can affect an otherwise healthy person. TED Fellow and biomedical entrepreneur Laura Indolfi is developing a revolutionary way to treat this complex and lethal disease: a drug delivery device that acts as a cage at the site of a tumor, preventing it from spreading and delivering medicine only where it's needed. "We are hoping that one day we can make pancreatic cancer a curable disease," she says.
Laura Indolfi - Biomedical entrepreneur
Laura Indolfi is revolutionizing cancer treatment with new technologies including implantable devices for delivering drugs locally to the site of a tumor. Full bio
Laura Indolfi is revolutionizing cancer treatment with new technologies including implantable devices for delivering drugs locally to the site of a tumor. Full bio
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By raising your hand,
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how many of you know
at least one person on the screen?
at least one person on the screen?
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Wow, it's almost a full house.
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It's true, they are very famous
in their fields.
in their fields.
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And do you know what
all of them have in common?
all of them have in common?
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They all died of pancreatic cancer.
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However, although it's very,
very sad this news,
very sad this news,
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it's also thanks to their personal stories
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that we have raised awareness
of how lethal this disease can be.
of how lethal this disease can be.
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It's become the third cause
of cancer deaths,
of cancer deaths,
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and only eight percent of the patients
will survive beyond five years.
will survive beyond five years.
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That's a very tiny number,
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especially if you compare it
with breast cancer,
with breast cancer,
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where the survival rate
is almost 90 percent.
is almost 90 percent.
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So it doesn't really come as a surprise
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that being diagnosed
with pancreatic cancer
with pancreatic cancer
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means facing an almost
certain death sentence.
certain death sentence.
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What's shocking, though,
is that in the last 40 years,
is that in the last 40 years,
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this number hasn't changed a bit,
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while much more progress has been made
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with other types of tumors.
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So how can we make pancreatic cancer
treatment more effective?
treatment more effective?
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As a biomedical entrepreneur,
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I like to work on problems
that seem impossible,
that seem impossible,
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understanding their limitations
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and trying to find new,
innovative solutions
innovative solutions
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that can change their outcome.
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The first piece of bad news
with pancreatic cancer
with pancreatic cancer
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is that your pancreas is in the middle
of your belly, literally.
of your belly, literally.
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It's depicted in orange on the screen.
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But you can barely see it
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until I remove all the other
organs in front.
organs in front.
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It's also surrounded
by many other vital organs,
by many other vital organs,
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like the liver, the stomach,
the bile duct.
the bile duct.
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And the ability of the tumor
to grow into those organs
to grow into those organs
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is the reason why pancreatic cancer
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is one of the most painful tumor types.
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The hard-to-reach location
also prevents the doctor
also prevents the doctor
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from surgically removing it,
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as is routinely done
for breast cancer, for example.
for breast cancer, for example.
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So all of these reasons leave
chemotherapy as the only option
chemotherapy as the only option
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for the pancreatic cancer patient.
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This brings us to the second
piece of bad news.
piece of bad news.
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Pancreatic cancer tumors have
very few blood vessels.
very few blood vessels.
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Why should we care
about the blood vessel of a tumor?
about the blood vessel of a tumor?
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Let's think for a second
how chemotherapy works.
how chemotherapy works.
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The drug is injected in the vein
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and it navigates throughout the body
until it reaches the tumor site.
until it reaches the tumor site.
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It's like driving on a highway,
trying to reach a destination.
trying to reach a destination.
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But what if your destination
doesn't have an exit on the highway?
doesn't have an exit on the highway?
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You will never get there.
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And that's exactly the same problem
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for chemotherapy and pancreatic cancer.
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The drugs navigate
throughout all of your body.
throughout all of your body.
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They will reach healthy organs,
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resulting in high toxic effect
for the patients overall,
for the patients overall,
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but very little will go to the tumor.
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Therefore, the efficacy is very limited.
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To me, it seems very counterintuitive
to have a whole-body treatment
to have a whole-body treatment
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to target a specific organ.
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However, in the last 40 years,
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a lot of money, research
and effort have gone towards
and effort have gone towards
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finding new, powerful drugs
to treat pancreatic cancer,
to treat pancreatic cancer,
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but nothing has been done
in changing the way
in changing the way
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we deliver them to the patient.
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So after two pieces of bad news,
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I'm going to give you
good news, hopefully.
good news, hopefully.
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With a collaborator at MIT
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and the Massachusetts
General Hospital in Boston,
General Hospital in Boston,
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we have revolutionized
the way we treat cancer
the way we treat cancer
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by making localized
drug delivery a reality.
drug delivery a reality.
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We are basically parachuting you
on top of your destination,
on top of your destination,
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avoiding your having to drive
all around the highway.
all around the highway.
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We have embedded the drug
into devices that look like this one.
into devices that look like this one.
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They are flexible enough
that they can be folded
that they can be folded
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to fit into the catheter,
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so the doctor can implant it
directly on top of the tumor
directly on top of the tumor
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with minimally invasive surgery.
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But they are solid enough
that once they are positioned
that once they are positioned
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on top of the tumor,
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they will act as a cage.
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They will actually
physically prevent the tumor
physically prevent the tumor
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from entering other organs,
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controlling the metastasis.
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The devices are also biodegradable.
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That means that once in the body,
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they start dissolving,
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delivering the drug only locally,
slowly and more effectively
slowly and more effectively
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than what is done with the current
whole-body treatment.
whole-body treatment.
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In pre-clinical study,
we have demonstrated
we have demonstrated
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that this localized approach
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is able to improve by 12 times
the response to treatment.
the response to treatment.
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So we took a drug that is already known
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and by just delivering it locally
where it's needed the most,
where it's needed the most,
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we allow a response
that is 12 times more powerful,
that is 12 times more powerful,
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reducing the systemic toxic effect.
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We are working relentlessly to bring
this technology to the next level.
this technology to the next level.
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We are finalizing the pre-clinical testing
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and the animal model required
prior to asking the FDA for approval
prior to asking the FDA for approval
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for clinical trials.
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Currently, the majority of patients
will die from pancreatic cancer.
will die from pancreatic cancer.
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We are hoping that one day,
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we can reduce their pain,
extend their life
extend their life
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and potentially make pancreatic cancer
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a curable disease.
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By rethinking the way we deliver the drug,
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we don't only make it
more powerful and less toxic,
more powerful and less toxic,
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we are also opening the door
to finding new innovative solutions
to finding new innovative solutions
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for almost all other impossible problems
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in pancreatic cancer patients and beyond.
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Thank you very much.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Laura Indolfi - Biomedical entrepreneurLaura Indolfi is revolutionizing cancer treatment with new technologies including implantable devices for delivering drugs locally to the site of a tumor.
Why you should listen
Laura Indolfi is a biomedical entrepreneur, CEO and co-founder of PanTher Therapeutics, an early stage spin-out from MIT and MGH that provides superior technologies for revolutionizing the treatment of locally advanced inoperable solid tumors. Prior to this she served as an entrepreneur-in-residence at the MGH Cancer Center and as a research associate in the Harvard-MIT Institute for Medical Engineering and Science. She was selected as a TED Fellow in 2016.
Indolfi has broad professional experiences and interests ranging from biomedical engineering to entrepreneurship and outreaching initiative to promoting science. Her scientific expertise covers a broad range of therapeutic areas (cardio, cancer, inflammation, regenerative medicine) and approaches (drug delivery, cell therapy, implanted devices). Together with her strong technical background, Laura has hands-on business and managerial know-how developed during her biomedical business training at Sloan and Harvard Business Schools and with several consulting firms. She strongly believes in the power of outreach initiatives to promote research awareness and foster the public audience's discovery of the beauty of science. In 2014 the line of clothes Cytocouture, created in collaboration with Colombian designer Carlos Villamil and inspired by her cell-therapy research, won the global competition Descience.
Indolfi holds a MS/BS degree in materials science and engineering and a PhD in biomaterials from the University of Naples Federico II in Italy. Upon graduation, she joined the Harvard-MIT Division of health, science and technology, working on several projects spanning from devices for local drug delivery to tissue engineering approaches for cell therapies.
Laura Indolfi | Speaker | TED.com