Source
Laboratory of Nanomedicine & Biomaterials, Department of Anesthesia, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ofarokhzad@partners.org
Abstract
AIM:
The development of chemoradiation - the concurrent administration of chemotherapy and radiotherapy - has led to significant improvements in local tumor control and survival. However, it is limited by its high toxicity. In this study, we report the development of a novel NP (nanoparticle) therapeutic, ChemoRad NP, which can deliver biologically targeted chemoradiation.
METHOD:
A biodegradable and biocompatible lipid-polymer hybrid NP that is capable of delivering both chemotherapy and radiotherapy was formulated.
RESULTS:
Using docetaxel, indium(111) and yttrium(90) as model drugs, we demonstrated that the ChemoRad NP can encapsulate chemotherapeutics (up to 9% of NP weight) and radiotherapeutics (100 mCi of radioisotope per gram of NP) efficiently and deliver both effectively. Using prostate cancer as a disease model, we demonstrated the targeted delivery of ChemoRad NPs and the higher therapeutic efficacy of ChemoRad NPs.
CONCLUSION:
We believe that the ChemoRad NP represents a new class of therapeutics that holds great potential to improve cancer treatment.