Research associate at the Center for advanced chronic diseases

With Coquimbo algae develops treatment for thyroid cancer

With Chilean algae of the Coquimbo Region, Dr. Andronikos Neira-Carrillo, associate researcher at ACCDIS, Advanced Center for chronic diseases, It develops cutting-edge technology to manufacture a replacement therapy, for the benefit of patients suffering from thyroid cancer.

It consists of manufacturing and purification of a material called alginate biopolymer, that it can be inserted into the forearm of the patient, -without producing side effects-, thus allowing for encapsulated biological material necessary to restore hormone levels and well-being of the organism.

This type of implant, pioneer in the world, It allows you to replace the function of the parathyroid gland, on many occasions it is removed after surgery for thyroid cancer.

"We discovered that from this alga called purification" Lessonia nigrescens, present on the coast of Coquimbo and Africa, We can generate better quality alginate, a biopolymer of broad commercial use, in this case, We have used for medical purposes, creating successful results", explains Dr. Andronikos Neira-Carrillo, Director of the laboratorio Polyforms, first research network polymers created within the framework of the U-Redes program of the U. of Chile.

Studies, made in collaboration with Drs. Pablo Caviedes and Patricio Cabane, of the Clinical Hospital of the University of Chile, they were in patients who present with postoperative hypoparathyroidism, "a rather complex picture, requiring the constant administration of calcium and sometimes, the hospitalization", According to the scientist. However, Thanks to this cell therapy, YLA encapsulation in alginate parathyroid tissue, specialists were able to replicate the function of the excised gland, that allowed the continuous and prolonged release of calcium, without causing allergic reactions or cytotoxic.

Extracted from: http:www.diariolaregion.cl/portal/2015/06/04/con-algas-de-coquimbo-desarrollan-tratamiento-contra-cancer-de-tiroides/