STTR Phase I: Intelligent Low-Toxicity Nanoparticles for Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。这个小企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目的重点是合成和递送纳米颗粒，以确定癌症的进展。除了诊断外，纳米平台还提供了专门针对肿瘤的高温治疗的治疗选择，而不会伤害健康组织。纳米平台包含一个中心铁/氧化铁/金核/壳纳米粒子，加上识别患者体内四种癌症特异性酶中哪一种的能力？的身体异常活跃。这四种酶的活性表明癌症的进展（I期、II期、III期或IV期）。这项研究的更广泛影响是癌症的早期诊断和更有效的癌症治疗。癌症是发达国家的第二大死因，占所有死亡人数的近20%。癌症的早期检测是至关重要的，甚至在解剖异常可见之前。癌症诊断的一个主要挑战是在早期阶段检测肿瘤，以获得最大的治疗益处。一个例子是乳腺癌，乳房X光检查需要超过一百万个细胞才能进行准确的临床诊断。为癌症中心及其患者提供更好的技术可以在数百到数千个细胞阶段检测到这些异常，从而大大提高治疗成功率。功能化的纳米颗粒将比目前可用的技术对癌细胞更具选择性，从而能够在癌症进展的早期阶段通过包括MRI在内的光谱方法进行诊断。除了能够实现早期检测外，这些材料还具有在治疗方法上取得突破的潜力。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project focuses on synthesis and delivery of nanoparticles for determination of the progression of cancer. Besides diagnosis, the nanoplatform offers the treatment option of directing high- temperature therapy specifically to the tumor, without harming healthy tissue. The nanoplatform contains a central iron/iron oxide/gold core/shell nanoparticle, plus the ability to identify which of four cancer-specific enzymes in the patient?s body are abnormally active. The activity of these four enzymes indicates the progression of cancer (Stage I, Stage II, Stage III, or Stage IV).The broader impacts of this research are earlier diagnosis of cancer, and more effective treatment of cancer. Cancer is the second largest cause of death in developed countries, accounting for nearly 20% of all deaths. Early detection of cancer is essential even before anatomic anomalies are visible. A major challenge in cancer diagnosis is detection of tumors at an early stage for maximum therapeutic benefit. An example is breast cancer where mammography requires more than a million cells for accurate clinical diagnosis. Offering better techniques to cancer centers and their patients could detect these abnormalities in the hundreds to thousands of cells stage, greatly improving treatment success. The functionalized nanoparticles will be more selective towards cancer cells than currently available technology, enabling diagnosis by spectroscopic methods including MRI at earlier stages of the cancers progression. In addition to enabling earlier detection, these materials also have potential for breakthroughs in treatment methods.