drug delivery
Precision Oncology: Nanoparticles Target Bone Cancers in Dogs
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Credit: L. Brian Stauffer
Many people share their homes with their pet dogs. Spending years under the same roof with the same environmental exposures, people and dogs have something else in common that sometimes gets overlooked. They can share some of the same diseases, such as diabetes and cancer. By studying these diseases in dogs, researchers can learn not only to improve care for people but for their canine friends as well.
As a case in point, an NIH-funded team of researchers recently tested a new method of delivering chemotherapy drugs for osteosarcoma, a bone cancer that affects dogs and people, typically teenagers and older adults. Their studies in dogs undergoing treatment for osteosarcoma suggest that specially engineered, bone-seeking nanoparticles might safely deliver anti-cancer drugs precisely to the places where they are most needed. These early findings come as encouraging news for the targeted treatment of inoperable bone cancers and other malignancies that spread to bone.
Creative Minds: Engineering Targeted Breast Cancer Treatments
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Debra Auguste
A few years ago, Debra Auguste, a chemical engineer then at Harvard University, was examining the statistics on breast cancer: the second most common cancer in women in the U.S. after lung cancer. She was disturbed to discover that of all the ethnic groups, African American women with breast cancer suffered the highest mortality rates—with 30.8% dying from the disease [1-3].
As an African American woman, Auguste was stunned by this correlation. She wondered whether there was some genetic aspect of breast cancer cells in African Americans that made these cancers more aggressive and more difficult to cure.
Nanoparticles Target Damaged Blood Vessels
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Caption: [A] Elastin stain (black) showing damaged elastic lamina in aorta. Inset (higher magnification) shows fluorescent nanoparticles attached to aorta where elastin is damaged. [B] Elastin stain showing aorta with undamaged elastic lamina. Inset shows no nanoparticle attachment. L stands for lumen, the open area inside the aorta.
Credit: Naren Vyavahare, Clemson University
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