Establishing a Framework of Drug Capture in Charged Adsorbers for Reducing Toxic Side Effects during Chemotherapy

Establishing a Framework of Drug Capture in Charged Adsorbers for Reducing Toxic Side Effects during Chemotherapy

Adele Godby Geneva¹, Jung Hwan Kim¹ and Hee Jeung Oh^1*

Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

Cancer is among the leading causes of death in the world. Chemotherapy is a most common treatment methods for cancer patients, however, its dosage is limited by toxic side effects. When the drug is injected into a target organ, more than 50-90% of the drug bypasses the target organ and spreads to the rest of the body, causing hazardous side effects. Therefore, there is a great need to remove the uncaptured drug before it causes irreversible damage. Doxorubicin, a frequently used chemotherapeutic, was selected as a model drug. We have designed a charged polymer adsorber to capture the drug before it spreads throughout the body. Our AMPS-PEGDA polymers were prepared by crosslinking a neutral poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), an ionic 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (AMPS), with varying the composition. We aim to understand the mechanism of the drug transport in these materials and thus conducted the drug sorption experiments. In this presentation, we identified two major factors, Ion Exchange Capacity (IEC) and water uptake for higher binding capacity and fast kinetics. We aim to apply our understanding to different drugs to match the needs of patients who require of customized drug capture approach.