Introduction

The patent application describes a methodology of isolation of extracellular vesicles from plasma of cancer patients and the use of isolated vesicles for the administration, with a high degree of specificity to tumor tissue only, of anticancer drugs or diagnostic molecules. The isolated vesicles can be loaded with molecules of various nature and size and administered to the same patient.

Technical features

Extracellular vesicles are nanoparticles that arise from budding from the cell membrane and which constitute a physiological communication system that allows an exchange of biological messages between cells. The invention described by this patent application concerns the possibility of isolating extracellular vesicles directly from plasma of patients affected by cancer. The isolated vesicles have shown, once reintroduced into the patient, a high specificity towards cancer cells. Given the nature of the vesicles, different types of molecules can be loaded into them, including large molecules. The use of extracellular vesicles isolated from an oncological patient is proposed to convey therapeutic molecules specifically to the patient’s tumor tissue. The vesicles can also be loaded with diagnostic drugs, allowing the clear identification of the tumor tissue and facilitating its removal.

Possible Applications

• Vehicle for anticancer drugs;
• Vehicle for diagnostic molecules;
• Vehicle for molecules related to imaging analisys.

Advantages

• Specificity towards tumor tissue;
• Autologous origin;
• Ability to load drugs and large diagnostic molecules;
• Rapid and reproducible isolation procedure in a hospital setting.