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2
Uses of Nanotechnology in
Oncology and Cancer Research
One of the ways that scientists are working to overcome the short-
comings of current cancer diagnostics and treatments is through the use of
nanotechnology, Dr. Barker explained. This chapter demonstrates current
uses of nanotechnology in oncology and cancer research as presented by
workshop speakers. In turn, diagnosis and monitoring, treatment, preven-
tion, and clinical uses are discussed.
Genetic research has revealed that tumors are not only heterogeneous,
but they continue to change with time, she said. For example, the brain
tumor glioblastoma multiforme is treated as a single type of cancer, but
recent research done by The Cancer Genome Atlas has revealed that there
are at least four subtypes of this kind of cancer, and numerous subtypes
are being discovered for ovarian and other cancers. The genetic expres-
sion of cancers also tends to change as they progress. “As important
in understanding what the genome looks like, is how the genome is
expressed in space over time as this is really important when you start
thinking about delivering agents,” she said (see Figure 2).
Tumors also have numerous traits that make their effective treatment
daunting, Dr. Barker pointed out. These traits include self-sufficiency in
growth signals, the ability to evade programmed cell death and induce
immunologic tolerance, limitless potential to replicate, and the ability to
invade tissues and form metastases that can induce the growth of blood
vessels to support them.
“If you understand what cancer fundamentally is, what you come
to fairly quickly is that we are totally underpowered in terms of being
9
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10 NANOTECHNOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY
chemical selection selection selection
virus
hormone
nutrition
mutation
mutation
mutation
mutation
base state malignant
state
FIGURE 2 Cancer is a complex, evolving system involving chemical, viral, hor-
monal, and nutritional inputs. Over time, mutation and selection can lead to a ma-
lignant state, but there is insufficient biological understanding of these processes
over time, according to Dr. Barker.
SOURCE: Barker presentation (July 12, 2010).
able to capture and deliver the kind of information [needed to effectively
diagnose and treat cancer] in any of the technologies we currently use,
including our chip technologies, because there is a lot of information
being managed by cancer when it takes over a normal [biologic] process,”
Dr. Barker said.
Nanotechnology has the capacity to deal with the complexity of can-
cer, she said, by providing tools that can help elucidate what drives cancer
initiation and progression; providing tools that can help define the types
and subtypes of cancer and combining measurement of cancer biomark-
ers that can diagnose cancer with therapies that target the specific disease
identified by diagnostic measurements; capturing enough information
to diagnose cancer at the earliest possible time; for established disease,
defining therapeutic targets and directing agents to those target while
sparing normal cells; monitoring the effectiveness of an intervention; and
sensing pre-neoplastic changes that may benefit from preventive therapy.
“I see nanotechnology as an enabler of pretty much everything we
want to do in terms of delivering information to cancer cells, getting
information from cancer cells, and combining what we know about nor-
mal cells and what we know about cancer cells to be able to differentiate
them,” Dr. Barker said.
Dr. Barker then elaborated, as did others, on what nanotechnology is
doing or has the potential to do for the diagnosis, monitoring, treatment,
and prevention of cancer.
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11
NANOTECHNOLOGY IN ONCOLOGY AND CANCER RESEARCH
DIAGNOSIS AND MONITORING
To diagnose cancer, physicians rely on imaging that reveals tumors or
their linked tissue abnormalities. The detection limit for tumors depends,
in part, on the selectivity and the signaling capacity of the contrast mate-
rial that is used to make them apparent. Increasingly, cancer diagnosis
also depends on molecular tests that can discern genes or proteins that are
present in abnormal levels. Speakers at the workshop showed how nano-
technology has the potential for improving the diagnosis and monitoring
of cancer by enabling high-throughput detection of complex molecular
signatures and by enhancing imaging contrast.
Molecular Signatures
Much of modern cancer diagnostics that underlies the new “per-
sonalized medicine” approach being taken on the forefront of oncology
depends on deciphering complex molecular signatures from blood or
tumor samples. But, as Dr. Ferrari pointed out, detecting such cancer-
linked molecular signatures in blood is like detecting a needle in a hay-
stack because within a single drop of blood, there can be upward of a
million different compounds. Adding to this challenge is the fact that
enzymes in blood rapidly degrade the proteins present in a blood sample.
Dr. Ferrari then showed how this challenge is being met by various
nanotechnologies, including one developed in his laboratory. In collabora-
tion with Dr. Zhao, Dr. Ferrari has developed silicon chips that are engi-
neered on the nanoscale to have a textured surface with micropores that
can separate out proteins by size and charge (see Figure 3). Researchers
can use these nanochips to do high-throughput separation of the low
molecular weight components of blood proteins from other compounds
in a blood sample. This not only enriches the less abundant but more
diagnostically significant components of a blood sample, which can later
be analyzed using mass spectroscopy, but it eliminates the enzymes that
degrade the sample (Sakamoto et al., 2010).
“By taking out all of those compounds that you do not want, it is
like taking the sun out of the sky; all of a sudden you can see the stars
and it is very facile and quick—it literally takes seconds to perform,” Dr.
Ferrari said.
Dr. Barker added that nanotechnology offers opportunities for
unprecedented levels of sensitivity and breadth of information, with “bio-
barcode” technologies able to detect as little as one molecule of interest
in a drop of blood as well as to simultaneously measure hundreds of
proteins (see Table 1). “This is an extraordinary leap forward for what we
can do with diagnostics, in terms of the numbers of parameters we can
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12 NANOTECHNOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY
Protocol
MALDI TOF MS profiles
M/z Da
800 10,000
FIGURE 3 Nanotechonology can aid in the development of targeted diagnostics.
For example, nanoporous silica films can aide in the identification of molecular
signatures through high-throughput separation of low molecular weight compo-
nents of blood proteins from other compounds in a blood sample.
NOTES: Apo-A1 = apolipoprotein A1; Hg = mercury; LMWP = low molecular
weight peptide; MALDI TOF MS = matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization
time-of-flight mass spectrometry.
SOURCE: Ferrari presentation (July 12, 2010).
measure. It potentially gives us, for the first time, the chance to measure
[protein] signatures, which is a really big step forward,” said Dr. Barker.
The barcode technologies sieve blood through nano-size channels
on chips as small as four centimeters wide. The channels separate the
plasma that contains cancer-linked proteins from the blood cells and
let it flow down narrower channels that contain an array of bars coated
with antibodies or other molecular probes. Each probe will bind to only
a specific protein, and fluorescent tags for such binding cause a barcode
to light up that indicates the blood’s protein signature (Heath et al., 2009)
(see Figure 4).
Researchers tested the ability of this barcode to detect prostate-specific
antigen (PSA), which is used to monitor prostate cancers, and found that
it could detect minute changes in PSA that were not detected in standard
PSA assays.
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NANOTECHNOLOGY IN ONCOLOGY AND CANCER RESEARCH
TABLE 1 Biomolecule Detection Technology
Detection Methods and
Concentration Molecules per Drop Targets/Diseases
10−3 – Millimolar Quadrillions Colorimetric/Enzymatic
Chemistry
Blood Sugar (Diabetes)
10−6 – Micromolar Trillions ELISA and
10−9 – Nanomolar Billions Chemiluminescence
10−12 – Picomolar Millions Troponin, CK-MB, BNP,
βhCG
10−15 – Femtomolar Thousands Bio-barcode technologies
10−18 – Attomolar Tens Cancer: prostate, ovarian,
10−21 – Zeptomolar <1 breast
Alzheimer disease, mad
cow disease, pulmonary
disease, cardiovascular
disease
NOTES: Nanotechnology offers opportunities for unprecedented levels of sensitivity for
high content diagnostics. βhCG = β subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin; BNP = brain
natriuretic peptide; CK-MB = creatine kinase MB fraction (the MB fraction is most specific
to cardiac muscle); ELISA = enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
SOURCE: Barker presentation (July 12, 2010).
“These barcode technologies are really going to set the stage for early
detection and are also driving the power of functional imaging of targets,
which is one of the earlier wins in the clinic,” Dr. Barker said. “With this
technology you can also think about prevention, which we haven’t been
able to do in the past.” Dr. Ernie Hawk, vice president and division head
for cancer prevention and population sciences at MD Anderson Can-
cer Center, added that “nanotechnology offers the potential to improve
our ability to detect early-stage disease or to assay its progression,” but
he noted that it remains to be seen whether nanotechnology screening
devices will have the sensitivity and specificity to detect a small collection
of cells on a neoplastic pathway.
Barcode technology is likely to be useful in monitoring response to
cancer therapies. Dr. James Heath, Elizabeth W. Gilloon Professor and
professor of chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, profes-
sor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the University of Cali-
fornia, Los Angeles, and director of the NanoSystems Biology Cancer
Center, showed how his barcode technology was able to reveal, over time,
changes in key melanoma-linked proteins in patients undergoing T-cell
immunotherapy. These patients just had to provide a pinprick of blood
daily for the researchers to capture the change in the dynamic evolution
of their protein signatures during the course of therapy.
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14 NANOTECHNOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY
ELISA validation of barcode assay
Chip design
B – Breast; P – Prostate
CHIP 2
CHIP 1
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NANOTECHNOLOGY IN ONCOLOGY AND CANCER RESEARCH
Enhanced Contrast
Nanotechnology holds promise in improving diagnostic imaging by
enhancing the contrast used to do the imaging. “Imaging is one of our
earliest wins already,” said Dr. Barker. “We work with places like General
Electric and other industries that are using nanotechnology to change
everything they are doing about imaging. I think it is going to continue
to … change imaging in the years to come.”
Dr. Lee Josephson, associate professor in the Department of Radiol-
ogy at Harvard Medical School and associate professor with the Center
for Translational Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging at Massachu-
setts General Hospital, showed how magnetic iron-based nanoparticles
with fluorescent tags can act as enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) con-
trast agents and be used for MR-based assays. These nanoparticles can be
targeted to tumors by attaching probes for compounds linked to certain
cancers, or they can target normal tissue by having probes for receptors
found only on normal cells.
Magneto–fluorescent nanoparticles (MFNP) have two main advan-
tages over standard MR contrast agents, according to Dr. Josephson. The
magnetic and crystalline nature of these particles heightens their ability
to be detected in MR scans. In addition, unlike many fluorescent chelates
and dyes conventionally used for contrast, MFNP are internalized by cells
FIGURE 4 In vitro diagnosis and post-therapy monitoring using large-scale,
multi-parameter protein analysis in microfluidic devices. (top) Multiplexed pro-
tein measurements of clinical patient sera for prostate and breast cancers. The
integrated blood barcode chip (IBBC) is used to measure the cancer marker PSA
and 11 cytokines from 22 cancer patient serum samples. B01–B11 are samples
from breast cancer patients; P01–P11 are samples from prostate cancer patients.
(bottom) The IBBC method: plasma is separated from a finger prick of blood us-
ing multiple DNA-encoded antibody barcode (DEAL) arrays patterned within
microfluidic plasma-skimming channels for multiplex fluorescence detection.
NOTES: B = breast cancer; DEAL = DNA-encoded antibody barcode; GM-CSF =
granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor; IBBC = integrated blood bar-
code chip; IFN-γ = interferon-γ; IL-1α = interleukin-1α; IL-1β = interleukin-1β; IL-2
= interleukin-2; IL-6 = interleukin-6; IL-10 = interleukin-10; IL-12 = interleukin-12;
MCP-1 = monocyte chemotactic protein-1; P = prostate cancer; PSA = prostate-
specific antigen; RBC = red blood cell; TGF-β = transforming growth factor β;
TNF-γ = tumor necrosis factor γ; WBC = white blood cell.
SOURCES: Barker presentation (July 12, 2010) and Fan et al. (2008). Adapted by
permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: Nature Biotechnology 26(12):1373–1378,
copyright 2008.
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16 NANOTECHNOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY
and are not rapidly metabolized, so they are retained long enough that
they can be used for both pre-surgery imaging, as well as during surgery
(intravital) to detect tumor margins (see Figure 5).
“If you inject MFNP 6 or even 12 hours prior to an operation, you
will be able to see where they are intraoperatively,” Dr. Josephson said.
Dr. Kristen Kulinowski, senior faculty fellow in the Department of
GFP
Cy5.5
0.1 mm
FIGURE 5 Measurement of nanoparticle fluorescence to determine tumor margin.
The Cy5.5-labeled nanoparticles were injected in the mouse model prior to surgery
and were used as a contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging. Images like the
one above can then be taken intraoperatively for use in tumor border determina-
tion. This image compares tumor border determination using CLIO-Cy5.5 and
green fluorescent protein (GFP). The tumor border was determined using signal
intensity measurements.
NOTE: CLIO-Cy5.5 = cross-linked iron oxide–Cy5.5.
SOURCES: Josephson presentation (July 12, 2010) and Trehin et al. (2006). Re-
printed, with permission, from Neoplasia, 2006. Copyright 2006 by Neoplasia Press.
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NANOTECHNOLOGY IN ONCOLOGY AND CANCER RESEARCH
Chemistry at Rice University and Director for External Affairs for the
Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology, added that
researchers at Rice University have already started clinical trials using
silica–gold nanoshells as real-time molecular probes for breast tissue
that overexpresses the breast cancer biomarker HER2. The nanoshells
are added to tissue slices removed during breast cancer excision surgery
and within 5 minutes can be detected with an optical imaging system
(Bickford et al., 2010). “All this could be done very rapidly while the
patient was still on the operating table, rather than having to rely on post-
operative follow-up and retreatment,” Dr. Kulinowski said. Dr. Josephson
is currently exploring MFNP for measuring, during surgical removal of
tumors, biomarkers that indicate the aggressiveness of cancer. “The idea
is to look in aspirates of tumors for various biomarkers, such as growth
factors, that would help the surgeon decide intraoperatively how aggres-
sive is the cancer, instead of waiting for the report,” he said.
Dr. Steven Curley, professor of surgery, chief of gastrointestinal tumor
surgery, and program director of multidisciplinary gastrointestinal care at
MD Anderson Cancer Center, pointed out that gadolinium-loaded carbon
nanostructures or gold-coated nanoparticles also can be used as contrast
agents for MR and provide more detail than standard contrast agents.
“The imaging characteristics and the ability to see things on a much finer
scale will definitely be enhanced [with these nanoparticles],” he said.
Another advantage to gold nanoparticles is that they can be used to
both diagnose and treat tumors. This is an example of theranostics, and
it can be done by first using the particles to target the tumors, and then
applying a selective energy source, such as a laser, that is readily absorbed
by the gold nanoparticles but not by normal tissues. The heat created by
that absorption kills the tumor cells.
In his studies, Dr. Curley found that even at very low concentrations,
gold nanoparticles produce significant levels of heat when exposed to a
very focused radiofrequency field. The production of heat by the exposed
nanoparticles was not only concentration dependent, but also size depen-
dent, with smaller nanoparticles leading to faster heating rates, given a
constant volume fraction of gold, Dr. Curley reported. He was able to
completely control the tumors in animal models using this nanotechnol-
ogy, without damage to their normal tissues. “This has the potential to be
a targeted therapy with few if any side effects,” he said. He added that
investigators at Rice are currently using a similar thermal treatment using
gold-coated nanoshells to treat oropharyngeal cancer in a clinical trial.
MR imaging using nanoparticles for contrast can also be done to do
imaging assays of blood or other solutions. The advantage of this assay
method stems from the penetrating radiofrequencies used in MR. “It
allows us to have molecular readouts from solutions that are completely
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18 NANOTECHNOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY
refractory to light,” Dr. Josephson said. “You can’t do this with an ELISA
or with fluorescent assays.”
Another advantage of doing MR assays is that the assay can be inter-
rogated with different pulse sequences, so one can assay for more than
one variable. MR assaying systems have been developed that are compact,
inexpensive, and portable. One micro MR imager can image ten microliter
wells simultaneously, Dr. Josephson reported, and is about the size of an
old cell phone. No separations are needed to do the imaging, and it can
detect all kinds of molecular targets and correct for unknown reagent
concentrations and viscosity.
Dr. Josephson also discussed MR nanosensors. In collaboration with
Michael Cima at MIT, Dr. Josephson developed a nanosensor for human
chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), which is produced by some tumors. The
sensor detects the aggregation of particles caused by the binding of the
hCG probe. The sensors have some of the same advantages as the MR
assays—they can detect multiple compounds with simple instrumenta-
tion, and, particularly relevant to sensors, they emit penetrating radiofre-
quency radiation, but have no power supply.
“In other words, what is implanted in the animal has no battery.
The energy comes from the external NMR,” Dr. Josephson said. This
would enable the sensor to be implanted in an animal to detect substances
released by tumors. He added that unlike blood tests that measure a
cancer biomarker at a single moment in time, implantable sensors could
measure the concentration of various biomarkers over time.
Quantum dots are another type of nanomaterial with versatile prop-
erties. Dr. Curley noted that quantum dots can function as optical imaging
agents both for in vitro and in vivo blood testing, to track molecules, to
show lymph node involvement for various cancers, and to image recur-
rent or residual infectious diseases.
TREATMENT
Several speakers showed how nanotechnology is likely to improve
cancer treatment by improving its targeting precision. Many cancer drugs
cause serious and sometimes fatal side effects because they are spread sys-
temically throughout the body, where they do damage to healthy tissues.
Such damage can be limited by more specific targeting to tumor cells.
The targeting can be passive and due to the physical properties of
nanomaterials that enable them to penetrate tumor cells from the blood-
stream, as previously described, or be active targeting due to being deco-
rated with antibodies or other compounds that cause them to selectively
bind to tumor cells. Selectivity can also be achieved by drugs encased in
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NANOTECHNOLOGY IN ONCOLOGY AND CANCER RESEARCH
nanoparticles that do not release their contents until they penetrate tumor
cells.
Nanomedicines already on the market to treat breast or ovarian cancer
do such specific targeting by encasing the conventional cytotoxic cancer
drugs, such as Taxol, in albumin or liposomes, which are designed not to
release their toxic contents until they enter tumor cells, thereby shielding
healthy cells from their toxic effects. Dr. Neil Desai, senior vice president
for global research and development at Abraxis Bioscience, reported that
clinical trials of Abraxane, which is Taxol encased in albumin nanopar-
ticles, found that that the maximum tolerated dose was about twice that
for Taxol alone, and that breast cancer response rates of Abraxane were
double that of Taxol. The drug was approved to treat breast cancer in 2005
and has since been shown in clinical trials to be an effective treatment for
patients with pancreatic or lung cancers, or melanoma.
Researchers are also pursuing other nanoconstructs that shield healthy
tissue from their toxic contents. Dr. DeSimone noted that his lab had cre-
ated what he called “Trojan horse” nanoparticles that are pH-sensitive
and chemically constructed to breakdown only in the intracellular envi-
ronment. Such breakdown triggers the release of the drugs they carry.
Other nanoparticles have shown to be so selectively taken up by
tumor cells, by both passive and active means, such that researchers can
use higher and more effective doses of the cancer drugs they contain.
For example, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) had been shown effective as a
cancer treatment in limited limb perfusions, but had to be abandoned as
a systemic treatment because of toxic reactions to the high enough doses
needed to be effective. But with the advent of nanoparticles that are selec-
tively taken up by tumor tissues, as opposed to healthy tissues, larger
doses can now be safely used systemically, Dr. Steven Libutti, director of
the Montefiore–Einstein Center for Cancer Care and professor and vice
chair of surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva Uni-
versity, reported. His research showed that he was able to safely admin-
ister tumor necrosis factor delivered via gold nanoparticles to melanoma
patients at what was previously considered to be a lethal dose level of the
compound (twice the LD50).
Consequently, reformulation of discontinued drugs is a growing area
of nanomedicine development, Dr. McNeil noted. “Big pharma can pro-
duce tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of new chemical
entities by medicinal chemistry,” he said. “By far, the majority of those
have to be disqualified due to insolubility or toxicity and so forth. So
something that has been postulated is that nanotechnology might be able
to resurrect some of those drugs, because we can truly engineer properties
into and out of that formulation.”
Nanomedicines have also been developed that not only specifically
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20 NANOTECHNOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY
target tumor cells, but the cancer-promoting genes they contain as well.
Clinical trials of a nanomedicine that target specific RNAs are already
underway, Dr. Barker pointed out. This nanoparticle contains silencing
RNA that penetrates tumor cells via endocytosis (Davis et al., 2010).
Researchers can also create nanoparticles that have bigger payloads—
multiple drugs, each with a different target, or drugs combined with
agents that enhance their effectiveness. Nanoparticles can also have mul-
tiple functions. Some combine drugs with contrast agents, while oth-
ers might someday be engineered to treat, monitor the effectiveness of
treatment, and then re-treat if the treatment is not working, Dr. Barker
noted. Dr. Li added that researchers also envision engineering “remote
controlled drugs” that can be released or activated only when needed.
Nanotechnology has immense potential to further personalized
medicine—defined as the use of new molecular technologies to get the
right treatments to the right patients at the right time—many speakers
noted. Dr. Ferrari pointed out that by using nanoparticles, researchers can
personalize vectors not just to the patient but to the specific type of lesion
the patient has, down to the subcellular level, in terms of which organelles
it targets or which sections of RNA or DNA. This specialized targeting
is “built into the physics and chemistry of the particles,” he said, which
can also determine both where and when therapeutic drugs are released.
Dr. Barker noted that the multiplexing capabilities of nanomedicines
offers the possibility of targeting the many and diverse genetic defects
that underlie specific cancers, as well as combining lesion detection with
drug delivery and monitoring of the drug’s effectiveness. “Personalizing
means getting the bioactive molecules that you want at the right place at
the right time, finding out whether they work pretty quickly, and engag-
ing the biology into some sort of a natural healing process that is better
than was present before the administration of the nano drug,” Dr. Ferrari
added.
Dr. Barker concurred adding, “We’re developing a field that is actu-
ally looking at the interplay of whatever we’re administering with the
cells that we’re interested in. And we’re doing that in ways we never did
before. Why is that? It’s because we have the capability of nanostructures
to do that. Right now we throw some small molecules into circulation
and hope they get there, and generally they don’t. So I think this is an
area where if you functionalize these particles and have the right delivery
vehicle, you [can do better],” Dr. Barker said.
But Dr. Ferrari cautioned against overdecorating nanoparticles with
compounds that target specific tumor cells or making their payloads
too extensive because the more complex nanoparticles become, the less
likely they may be to overcome the biological barriers that can prevent
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NANOTECHNOLOGY IN ONCOLOGY AND CANCER RESEARCH
them from reaching their targets. This concept is discussed further in the
section Design Complexity of Nanomaterials for Medical Applications in
Chapter 3.
PREVENTION
Many of the advantages nanotechnology provide for treatment and
diagnostics are likely to be also relevant to the prevention of cancer, Dr.
Hawk pointed out, including the ability to have larger payloads and
deliver a combination of agents. Studies (McLaren et al., 2008; Meyskens
et al., 2008) show that two compounds, such as DFMO (difluorometh-
ylornithine) and Sulindac, can be more effective than either agent alone at
reducing colon cancer recurrence, he said. “This and a great deal of other
clinical work leads me to believe that using nanotechnology as a com-
binatorial platform will be as relevant to prevention as it is in therapy,”
Dr. Hawk stressed.
But does the leakiness of tumor blood vessels, which enables passive
transport of nanomaterials into cancer cells, occur in preinvasive lesions,
and thus become relevant to prevention efforts using nanoparticles? This
is not known yet, but is actively being explored, Dr. Hawk reported. Such
selective targeting would be an advantage for compounds such as epi-
gallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is found in green tea and appears
to have some cancer-preventing properties, but has poor oral absorption,
with few people consuming green tea in high enough quantities to reap
the compound’s cancer-preventing benefits.
One research lab at the University of Wisconsin created a nanopar-
ticle that could deliver high doses of EGCG. They found, in an animal
model, that there was efficient uptake of the nano-delivered EGCG by
prostate cancer cells, where it induced programmed cell death, inhibited
the formation of blood vessels, and decreased tumor volume (Siddiqui et
al., 2009). In addition, the nanoEGCG was as effective as a tenfold higher
dose of EGCG delivered by standard means in a mouse xenograft model
using prostate cancer cells (Siddiqui et al., 2009).
Researchers are also currently developing nano versions of non-
steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that could mitigate the
adverse effects of these drugs without compromising their protective
properties, which include preventing gastric cancers of the gastrointesti-
nal tract, Dr. Hawk added.
“Are we there yet in terms of nanotechnology impacting cancer pre-
vention? I don’t think so. However, there are very important endeavors
underway right now to try to expand the potential usefulness of this
exciting technology in screening and prevention,” Dr. Hawk concluded.
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22 NANOTECHNOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY
NANOTECHNOLOGY IN THE CLINIC
Although many of the applications of nanomedicine described at the
workshop are in preclinical stages, and some are still in proof-of-principle
stages, several participants stressed that nanotechnology is already being
applied to the clinic.
“Nanotechnology is a very real field. It is not science fiction, a ‘let’s
see what happens in the future’ type of field,” Dr. Ferrari said. He pointed
out that one of the first nanomedicines—the liposomal cancer medicine
Doxil—has been used in the clinic for over 15 years, and in addition to
the dozens of different nanotechnology approaches that are currently
being tested, many clinical trials are testing agents that have already been
approved, such as liposomes with doxorubicin in combination with other
drugs.
During his presentations, Dr. Li showed a list of two dozen either
approved nanotechnology cancer drugs or potential nanotechnology can-
cer drugs currently in clinical trials, which he said was just a partial list
of all the nanomaterials being used in the clinic, and did not include Dr.
Libutti’s nanoTNF, which is currently being tested in a clinical trial (see
Table 2). In addition, Dr. Barker listed one nanotechnology imaging agent
that has conditional FDA approval (iron oxide nanoparticles) and one in
preclinical development (PAMAM dendrimers for MRI imaging).
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NANOTECHNOLOGY IN ONCOLOGY AND CANCER RESEARCH
TABLE 2 A Partial List of Nanotechnology Drugs Currently in
Clinical Trials
Compound Name Indication Status
Liposomal doxorubicin Myocet, Caelyx Breast, ovarian, Approved
(Doxil) KS
Liposomal daunorubicin Daunoxome Kaposi sarcoma Approved
Liposomal vincristine Onco-TCS Non-hodgkin Approved
lymphoma
Liposomal cisplatin SPI-77 Lung Phase II
Liposomal lurtotecan OSI-211 Ovarian Phase II
Cationic liposomal c-Raf LErafAON Various Phase I/II
AON
Cationic liposomal E1A PLD-E1A Breast, ovarian Phase I/II
pDNA
Thermosensitive liposomal ThermoDox Breast, liver Phase I
doxorubicin
Albumin-paclitaxel Abraxane Breast Approved
Albumin-methotrexate MTX-HSA Kidney Phase II
Dextran-doxorubicin DOX-OXD Various Phase I
PEG-L-asparaginase Oncaspar Leukemia Approved
PEG-IFN2a/-IFN2b PegAsys/ Melanoma, Phase I/II
PegIntron leukemia
PHPMA-doxorubicin PK1 Breast, lung, Phase II
colon
Galactosamine-targeted PK2 Liver Phase I/II
PK1
PGA-paclitaxel Xyotax Lung, ovarian Phase III
Paclitaxel-containing Genexol-PM Breast, lung Phase II
polymeric micelles
Cisplatin-containing Nanoplatin Various Phase I
polymeric micelles
Doxorubicin-containing NK911 Various Phase I
polymeric micelles
SN38-containing LE-SN38 Colon, colorectal Phase I
polymeric micelles
90
Yttrium-Ibritumomab Zevalin Non-hodgkin Approved
tiuxetan (α-CD20) lymphoma
DTA-IL2 fusion protein Ontak T-cell lymphoma Approved
(α-CD25)
continued
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24 NANOTECHNOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY
TABLE 2 Continued
Compound Name Indication Status
Ozogamycin-gemtuzumab Mylotarg Leukaemia Approved
(α-CD33)
Doxorubicin-cBR96 SGN-15 Lung, prostate, Phase II
(α-CD174) breast
NOTES: α-CD20 = anti-CD20, CD20 is cluster of differentiation 20, a cell surface protein;
α-CD33 = anti-CD33, CD33 is cluster of differentiation 33; DOX-OXD = dextran conjugated
doxorubicin; Doxorubicin-cBR96 (α-CD174) = doxorubicin conjugated to chimeric mono-
clonal antibody cBR96 (anti-CD174, CD174 is cluster of differentiation 174, a cell surface
protein); DTA-IL2 fusion protein (α-CD25) = fusion protein of diphtheria toxin fragment
A and interleukin 2 (this fusion protein targets CD25, a cell surface protein); Genexol-PM
= Genexol–polymeric micelle; KS = Kaposi sarcoma; LE-SN38 = liposome-encapsulated
7-Ethyl-10-hydroxy-camptothecin; LErafAON = liposome encapsulated c-raf antisense oli-
gonucleotide; MTX-HSA = human serum albumin–bound methotrexate; NK911 = polymeric
micelle carrier system for doxorubicin; Onco-TCS = Onco-transmembrane carrier system,
the drug vincristine; OSI-211 = liposomal lurtotecan drug manufactured by OSI Phar-
maceuticals; PEG-IFNα2a/-IFNα2b = pegylated interferon α-2a/interferon α-2b; PEG-L-
asparaginase = polyethylene glycol conjugated asparaginase; PGA-paclitaxel = polyglutamic
acid conjugated paclitaxel; PHPMA-doxorubicin = poly(2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate)
conjugated doxorubicin; PK1 = N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide copolymer doxorubi-
cin; PK2 = N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymer backbone and pendant
doxorubicin (DOX) linked via a Gly-Phe-Leu-Gly peptide spacer; PLD-E1A = pegylated
liposomal doxorubicin–linked E1A (an adenoviral oncogene) plasmid DNA; SGN-15 =
cBR96-doxorubicin (see above) immunoconjugate, SGN stands for Seattle Genetics Inc.;
SPI-77 = sterically stabilised liposomal cisplatin.
SOURCES: Li presentation (July 12, 2010) and Lammers et al. (2008). Reprinted by permis-
sion from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: British Journal of Cancer 99(3), copyright 2008.