Researchers have developed a new skin patch that could efficiently deliver medication to attack melanoma cancer cells.The study -- which will be presented at the 'American Chemical Society Fall 2019 National Meeting' -- is an advance toward developing a vaccine to treat melanoma."Our patch has a unique chemical coating and mode of action that allows it to be applied and removed from the skin in just a minute while still delivering a therapeutic dose of drugs," said Yanpu He, a graduate student who helped develop the device.Paula T Hammond, PhD, along with her graduate students He, Celestine Hong and other colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), designed a new pH-responsive polymer with two parts."The first part contains amine groups that are positively charged at the pH at which we make the microneedles, but that becomes neutral at the pH of the skin," he explained."The second part contains carboxylic acid groups with no charge when the microneedles are made, ...
