Simultaneous chemotherapy and radiation treatment in solid tumours: A new platform to promote synergy and therapeutic efficacy with radiation triggered drug release

同时用药物和放射治疗癌症患者是非常有效的，甚至可以治愈，但这两者结合起来

Treating cancer patients with drugs and radiation at the same time is very effective and even curative, but this combined treatment often results in severe toxicities to normal tissues that prevent the treatments from being used at full doses. We therefore plan to develop a new platform that uses the radiation treatment to define where and when the drug will act so that its cytotoxic effects are confined to the tumour site. Nanoscale capsules containing drugs will be designed to have long circulation times so they accumulate effectively in the tumour. The drug will be efficiently trapped in each capsule to minimize the potential for random toxicities. However, when capsules in the tumour are irradiated, the energy from the radiation will be converted to local heating of the capsules surfaces. The heat generated will melt the capsule, and its drug contents will be released so we can attain high drug doses only in the tumour; up to 1000 times more in comparison to using the drug conventionally. Some drugs (e.g. platinum-based drugs) make cells more vulnerable to radiation so releasing these drugs during radiation treatment would enhance cell kill due to radiation. The proposed strategy would ultimately allow doctors to attain optimal drug and radiation doses with minimal damage to normal tissue. In turn, patients would benefit from more focused treatments that are potentially curative with fewer toxic side effects. The proposed platform will be designed, produced, tested and evaluated by a purpose-formed multidisciplinary team of senior clinicians with experience in medical and radiation oncology, and research scientists with experience in nanotechnology, radiation sciences, tumour biology, drug carrier technologies and other experimental therapeutics. A close partnership with The Centre for Drug Research and Development and Celator Pharmaceuticals will ensure that the technology will reach its full pharmaceutical and commercial potential.