Living Machines: The Potential of ABBMs for Precision Oncology

In the equation for humanity's continued survival, one variable has consistently galvanized the mortality rate and remains a big problem: cancer, which has remained one of the leading causes of death worldwide, claiming an average of 600,000 lives per year since 2019, with conventional treatments-most prominently chemotherapy. These treatments, although somewhat effective, produce severe, body-wide toxic effects and poor delivery accuracy, leading to a substantial decrease in patient quality of life and effectiveness. However, we have witnessed a new era in cancer care with targeted therapeutic interventions, such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors, immunotherapy, and T-cell-directed therapies, which differ significantly from conventional chemotherapy. This study examines the potential of emerging therapies for cancer. Specifically, the potential of algae-based biohybrid microbots (ABBM) and their promise as a revolutionary method for cancer treatment. These minuscule robots (approximately the size of a human hair) unite both biological and synthetic components to navigate through adverse tumor microenvironments (TMEs) while carrying a payload to achieve autonomous propulsion, overall increasing treatment efficacy and efficiency while also boosting patient quality of life. The specific intricacies of ABBM enable them to navigate through volatile TMEs with utmost versatility and accuracy, allowing them to reach previously inaccessible hypoxic areas and deliver a payload of therapeutic agents directly to tumors and cancer cells, with significantly reduced harm to healthy cells, resulting in overall reduced side effects. Preclinical studies have shown notable improvements in results using microrobots, most eminently within lung metastasis models. Within all simulations and experiments, these microrobots showed significantly reduced metastatic tumor growth and increased survival times for treated patients. Microrobots also show extreme potential for being the most cost-effective treatment, as their incorporation of algae allows for significant cost reductions compared to standard chemotherapy treatments, which, on average, cost more than $20,000 per course. Nevertheless, the application of biohybrids encounters several obstacles necessitating resolution before they can be fully implemented in real-world environments. Firstly, and most notably, the cost-effective, large-scale production of microrobots must also ensure long-term biocompatibility and prevent any possibility of immunogenic responses. Although possessing many compelling advantages, microrobots require the resolution of the previously listed complexities through peer review and rigorous evidence-based research in order to have a chance of entering the real market. These microrobots hold the potential to revolutionize oncology as a whole by offering less invasive, more efficacious, more precise, and more patient-centric technologies than have been seen before.