Nano Cancer Treatment

Most cancer drugs have high levels of toxicity, which target both healthy and diseased tissue. Combining cancer drugs with nanoparticle delivery systems can increase the therapeutic power of pre-existing drugs by escorting them through the body without being altered, broken down or excreted by the immune system.

Benefits

• Nanoparticles can increase cancer drug bioavailability, or the amount of intact medicine that reaches specific tissue sites, to avoid the drug dilution and unnecessary drug exposure associated with oral dosages and injections.

Liposomal Agents

• William Zamboni, in the December 1, 2005 issue of "Clinical Cancer Research," determined that pegylated liposomes increase the effectiveness of doxorubicin while limiting its side effects.

Bacterial Agents

• Drug-laden nanoparticles can utilize the high mobility of bacteria to deliver their cargo to affected tissue areas, as found in a June 10, 2007, "Nature Nanotechnology" article authored by Demir Akin.

Dendrimer Nanoparticles

• In the June 17, 2005, issue of "medGadget" University of Michigan researchers reported a study in which they increased the effectiveness of methotrexate 10-fold by attaching it to dendrimer nanoparticles.

Nanoparticle-Aptamer Bioconjugates

• Scientists of the European Cancer Society conducted a study, published in the November 1, 2005, issue of "EurekAlert," which proved nanoparticle-aptamer conjugates could deliver docetaxel to cancerous prostate cells with higher specificity than traditional dosages.