[nanoPost] Magnetic Nanoparticles for the Detection, Characterization and Treatment of Cancer

Company USA

The convergence of diagnostic and therapeutic methods is leading to a new age of personalized medicine.  Nowhere is this more important than in the detection and treatment of cancer, a class of diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth of abnormal, mutated cells.

Recent molecular diagnostic advances are providing valuable information on tumor-specific defects and biomolecular targets particular to an individual’s cancer.  This is important because present cell-killing radiation and chemotherapy effects can not be sufficiently focused to tumors, often causing severe side-effects that require treatment to be stopped before the patient is cured. 

Emerging treatments- examples include monoclonal antibody therapies and nanoparticle delivery- take advantage of the distinguishing molecular and structural signatures of tumors.  However, more advanced technologies are urgently needed to better treat these often deadly diseases. 

Proprietary nanoparticles approximate the size and tumor-targeting capabilities of monoclonal antibodies.  The nanoparticles are also comprised of magnetic crystals which enable several functions.  Existing MRI equipment can be used to track nanoparticle location in patients, thus enabling tumor detection and verification of nanoparticle accumulation in tumors. 

The magnetic core can also be energized to increase particle penetration into tumors, release a chemotherapeutic payload, and activate the immune system.  The nanoparticles combine diagnostic, drug and device capabilities to better detect, diagnose and treat cancer.

Institute.