Researchers have designed a new targeted cancer therapeutic drug. A multicomponent delivery system has been created by conjugating a chemotherapeutic drug and a tumor-targeting moiety to gold nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles are advantageous for their non-immunogenicity and serve as a platform for targeted drug delivery. In vitro cytotoxicity assays performed in breast cancer cells demonstrate our treatment to be 3,000-fold the toxicity of chemotherapeutic alone.
BACKGROUND:
Cancer is a notoriously difficult disease to treat, as cancer cells are of host origin and are often difficult to discern from natural healthy cells. Many treatments rely on untargeted broad-spectrum cytotoxic agents applied with the knowledge that both healthy and cancer cells will be destroyed, but the hope that the cancer cells are destroyed before too much damage occurs to their healthy counterparts.
The ideal cancer treatment would target chemotherapeutics to cancer cells, thus limiting the collateral damage to adjacent healthy cells. Many such biomarkers exist for a diversity of cancers, but challenges remain in enabling effective and specific drug delivery.
Researchers have used their expertise in gold nanoparticle formulation to design targeted gold nanoparticles carrying chemotherapeutic payloads in the improved treatment of a variety of cancers. Proof of concept experiments have demonstrated in vitro efficacy in cells, with potential applications in a variety of cancers and with a diversity of chemotherapeutics.
APPLICATIONS:
- Breast cancer
- NSCLC & SCLC
- Prostate cancer
- Colon cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Neuroblastoma
ADVANTAGES:
- Targeted chemotherapeutic delivery
- Increased cytotoxicity
- Minimized chemotherapeutic dosages