State-of-the-Art Lecture: Aptomers Of Nanotechnology - Reported From The Annual Meeting Of The American Urological Association

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 23 Jun 2008 - 0:00 PST

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ORLANDO, FL (UroToday.com) - Dr. Omid Farokhzad from Harvard addressed nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the assembly of particles < 100nm. In 2004 the NCI formed the Alliance for Nanotech, which was followed by large government investments in this field. Nanotechnology can be used across the spectrum of medicine to include prevention, diagnostics and therapeutics. Nano-drugs are in the form of liposomes, polymeric platforms and other platforms. Polymer nanoparticles or liposome-polymers have a core that encapsulates a drug to protect it from the immune system. On the surface are ligands to recognize the target tissue. For example, perhaps siRNA could be delivered to tissues using nanoparticles. Nanoparticles leave the vascular space to deliver drugs to the target. The drug can then be released in cells at higher concentrations than via system means.

The complexity of designing, developing and manufacturing of nanoparticles is immense. There are 18 naked ligands that are presently approved, but no nanoparticle conjugates are presently approved. He showed examples of targeting approaches with aptamers. A PSMA aptamer was developed as a bioconjugate that could mark specific cells. They went on to alter the amount of ligand on the surface and found that increased targeting ligand results in greater recognition by the immune system. Thus ligand density is critical to nanoparticle formulation. Aptamers can be delivered to prostate cancer cells and they become internalized in 30 minutes time. He showed an example of combining therapeutic and imaging particles in one complex with quantum dot expression providing measurable information on drug delivery. He reports that a first test of therapy will be in HRPC patients in 2009.

Presented by Omid Farokhzad, MD, at the Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) - May 17 - 22, 2008. Orange County Convention Center - Orlando, Florida, USA.

Reported by UroToday.com Contributing Editor Christopher P. Evans, MD, FACS

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