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)第一阶段项目专注于合成和交付纳米颗粒，以确定癌症的进展。除了诊断，纳米平台还提供了针对肿瘤的高温治疗选择，而不会损害健康组织。该纳米平台包含一个中心的铁/氧化铁/金核/壳纳米颗粒，加上识别患者体内四种癌症特异性酶中的哪一种的能力？S体内的活性异常。这四种酶的活性指示癌症的进展(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%。即使在解剖异常可见之前，癌症的早期检测也是必不可少的。癌症诊断的一个主要挑战是在早期阶段发现肿瘤，以获得最大的治疗效益。一个例子是乳腺癌，乳房X光检查需要100多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，极大地提高治疗成功率。与目前可用的技术相比，功能化的纳米颗粒对癌细胞的选择性更强，能够在癌症进展的早期阶段通过包括磁共振在内的光谱方法进行诊断。除了能够更早地发现外，这些材料还有可能在治疗方法上取得突破。

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.