Engineering of Nano-based therapeutics for Optimized Outcome in Cancer Therapy

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The field of nanotechnology is currently undergoing explosive development on many fronts. The technology is expected to generate innovations and play a critical role in nano-based cancer therapeutics. Among other nanoparticle (NP) systems, there has been tremendous progress made in the use of gold NPs (GNPs) in cancer therapy since they can be used as a radiation dose enhancer in radiation therapy and as well as an anticancer drug carrier in chemotherapy. However, we still do not know how to combine these two widely used cancer therapeutic therapy techniques using these properties of GNPs to cause the maximum damage to cancer cells. Hence, the goal of this proposed research program is to engineer a combination of GNP-mediated radiation therapy and chemotherapy (will be refereed to as chemoradiation) to yield a better outcome in cancer therapy. My research group has developed protocols to optimize GNP-mediated radiation therapy and GNP-mediated drug delivery through publication of 15 articles in the last four years. We believe that GNP-mediated chemoradiation would allow us to design a very aggressive treatment approach to kill cancer cells.In addition, most of the GNP-based radiation research has been focused on the use of photons. However, recent studies have shown promising results if we can use protons for radiation treatment instead of photons. The second goal of this proposed research program is to build a NP-based platform to elucidate the therapeutic outcome differences between photons vs protons using in vitro cell models. The outcome of this research would open up a whole new discussion on the use of proton therapy vs photon therapy in Canada, since proton therapy is barely used in Canada while it is being used in other parts of the world.This research offers three major strategic benefits to Canada. Firstly, the expected results are foundational for long-term research aiming at optimizing NP-based cancer therapeutics. The improved delivery of cancer therapeutics will reduce health care costs while improving the quality of life of cancer patients. Secondly, the results of this study will support Canada's leadership in natural sciences via the training of three PhD students and two MSc students, who will acquire problem-solving skills, independence, and expertise in cancer research. Such skills and knowledge are vital to helping Canada maintain and improve its position as one of largest nanobiotechnology clusters in North America. Thirdly, my lab is in a position to become a leader in the use of GNPs for cancer therapy. I was invited to be on the three-member expert panel at both AAPM and ASTRO (two major conferences). I am part of a major collaborative network between MD Anderson Cancer Centre, Harvard Medical School, and North Eastern University. This leading-edge work will enhance Canada's academic profile globally and provides personnel to a highly-skilled labor force.