Nanotechnology Now

Our NanoNews Digest Sponsors
Heifer International



Home > Press > Going for Gold With a Novel Interventional Radiology Treatment for Pancreatic Cancer

Abstract:
Direct Injection of Gold Nanoparticles Into Tumors Opens Door to New and Future Treatment for Most Fatal Cancer

Going for Gold With a Novel Interventional Radiology Treatment for Pancreatic Cancer

Tampa, FL | Posted on March 16th, 2010

Pancreatic cancer—known as the most fatal cancer with no known effective treatment—requires a radical new therapy. A promising approach may come in the form of tiny gold nanoparticles—loaded with a therapeutic agent to kill cancer—in a novel procedure called "nanoembolization," said researchers at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 35th Annual Scientific Meeting in Tampa, Fla.

"As current treatments for pancreatic cancer offer minimal benefit, entirely new approaches are needed. We've developed a radically different approach that might be able to overcome some of the obstacles that have hampered previous therapies for pancreatic cancer," said Reed A. Omary, M.D., M.S., an interventional radiologist and professor of radiology and biomedical engineering and vice chair of research in the radiology department at Northwestern University in Chicago, Ill. Traditional attempts to treat this particularly horrible cancer include some combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and/or surgery. However, none of these methods results in effective treatment.

Instead, Northwestern researchers constructed extremely tiny particles made out of gold—termed nanoparticles—with cancer-killing agents attached to them. These nanoparticles, which measure only 13 nanometers in diameter, are so small that 8,000 of them could be strung together and still occupy less than the width of a single human hair. In animal studies, the research team used an interventional radiology technique to inject the cancer-killing nanoparticles directly into the tumor. The investigators call this novel delivery technique "nanoembolization." Omary said, "Using nanoembolization, we dramatically increased the concentration of the nanoparticles in the tumor by 55 times over traditional methods that use a vein (such as at the elbow). That's a massive improvement—and a promising discovery for this dreadful disease."

The pancreas is the organ located behind the stomach. It produces juices that help break down food and hormones that help control blood sugar levels. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is the most common type of pancreatic cancer and carries the worst prognosis of any cancer, even when diagnosed early. This aggressive cancer typically has a six-month survival rate at diagnosis. In 2009, it was estimated that more than 42,000 individuals, typically over the age of 60, were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, making it the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Because it is often found late and it spreads quickly, pancreatic cancer can be hard to treat.

"As current treatments offer minimal benefit, entirely new approaches are needed," said Omary, in explaining the pre-clinical study. A major reason that current pancreatic cancer treatments do not work is that scar tissue develops around the cancer. This scar tissue blocks cancer-killing drugs from entering the tumor in the first place, said Omary. "We used a catheter to deliver cancer-killing nanoparticles directly to the tumor. The catheter is placed into an artery near the groin and navigated through blood vessels to the site of the tumor, all without surgery. Once in the blood vessel that supplies the tumor, the catheter can deliver nanoparticles directly into the tumor. This method may offer a better way to overcome the scar tissue that blocks drugs from attacking the tumor," he added. With this type of catheter delivery, more drug "can go directly where we want it: to the tumor itself," said Omary. "This is not the case with injections through a vein, where the cancer-killing drug may not end up where it needs to be," he explained. The direct catheter injections also have the potential to reduce some of the side effects such as vomiting and hair loss that may be seen with typical chemotherapy. "Researchers have been using the same tool box for a long time without any benefit; it's time for us to apply some high-tech tools to treat pancreatic cancer," said Omary, the senior author of "Image-guided Nanoembolization as a Novel Local Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer: Feasibility in an Animal Model."

"For decades, interventional radiology has offered innovative ways to treat cancer patients instead of traditional surgery, chemotherapy or radiation; after all, we invented the field of minimally invasive medicine. Interventional radiologists recognize that the greatest advances in medicine occur at the interface with other medical disciplines," said Omary. "Nanoembolization is a terrific example of bringing together a diverse range of experts—in interventional radiology, chemistry and oncology—to develop a radically different method to treat the cancer with the most dismal survival rate," he added. Omary praised the efforts of all the Northwestern investigators including nanomedicine experts Chad A. Mirkin, Ph.D., director of the university's International Institute for Nanotechnology and a member of President Obama's Council of Advisors for Science and Technology, and C. Shad Thaxton, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of urology. Omary emphasizes that before this proposed new treatment is ready for patients, more studies will be needed to show safety and effectiveness.

More information about the Society of Interventional Radiology, interventional radiologists and minimally invasive treatments for cancer can be found online at www.SIRweb.org.

Abstract 70: "Image-guided Nanoembolization as a Novel Local Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer: Feasibility in an Animal Model," A.C. Eifler, R.J. Lewandowski, S. Mouli, J. Chung, D. Bentrem, R. Salem, R.K. Ryu, C.A. Mirkin, A.C. Larson, C.S. Thaxton, and R.A. Omary, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL., SIR 35th Annual Scientific Meeting March 13-18, 2010, Tampa, Fla. This abstract can be found at www.SIRmeeting.org.

####

About Society of Interventional Radiology
Interventional radiologists are physicians who specialize in minimally invasive, targeted treatments. They offer the most in-depth knowledge of the least invasive treatments available coupled with diagnostic and clinical experience across all specialties. They use X-ray, MRI and other imaging to advance a catheter in the body, such as in an artery, to treat at the source of the disease internally. As the inventors of angioplasty and the catheter-delivered stent, which were first used in the legs to treat peripheral arterial disease, interventional radiologists pioneered minimally invasive modern medicine. Today, interventional oncology is a growing specialty area of interventional radiology. Interventional radiologists can deliver treatments for cancer directly to the tumor without significant side effects or damage to nearby normal tissue.

Many conditions that once required surgery can be treated less invasively by interventional radiologists. Interventional radiology treatments offer less risk, less pain and less recovery time compared to open surgery. Visit www.SIRweb.org.

The Society of Interventional Radiology is hosting its 35th Annual Scientific Meeting March 13–18 in Tampa, Fla. The theme of the meeting is "IR Innovation," celebrating the remarkable inventiveness of SIR members and highlighting the contribution made to both creating the field of interventional radiology and to improving patient care.

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
Society of Interventional Radiology
3975 Fair Ridge Drive
Suite 400 North
Fairfax, Virginia 22033
(800) 488-7284
(703) 691-1805
Fax (703) 691-1855

Copyright © PrNewswire

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark:
Delicious Digg Newsvine Google Yahoo Reddit Magnoliacom Furl Facebook

Related News Press

News and information

Researchers develop artificial building blocks of life March 8th, 2024

How surface roughness influences the adhesion of soft materials: Research team discovers universal mechanism that leads to adhesion hysteresis in soft materials March 8th, 2024

Two-dimensional bimetallic selenium-containing metal-organic frameworks and their calcinated derivatives as electrocatalysts for overall water splitting March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

Possible Futures

Two-dimensional bimetallic selenium-containing metal-organic frameworks and their calcinated derivatives as electrocatalysts for overall water splitting March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

The Access to Advanced Health Institute receives up to $12.7 million to develop novel nanoalum adjuvant formulation for better protection against tuberculosis and pandemic influenza March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Nanomedicine

High-tech 'paint' could spare patients repeated surgeries March 8th, 2024

Researchers develop artificial building blocks of life March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

The Access to Advanced Health Institute receives up to $12.7 million to develop novel nanoalum adjuvant formulation for better protection against tuberculosis and pandemic influenza March 8th, 2024

Announcements

What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

The Access to Advanced Health Institute receives up to $12.7 million to develop novel nanoalum adjuvant formulation for better protection against tuberculosis and pandemic influenza March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Events/Classes

Researchers demonstrate co-propagation of quantum and classical signals: Study shows that quantum encryption can be implemented in existing fiber networks January 20th, 2023

CEA & Partners Present ‘Powerful Step Towards Industrialization’ Of Linear Si Quantum Dot Arrays Using FDSOI Material at VLSI Symposium: Invited paper reports 3-step characterization chain and resulting methodologies and metrics that accelerate learning, provide data on device pe June 17th, 2022

June Conference in Grenoble, France, to Explore Pathways to 6G Applications, Including ‘Internet of Senses’, Sustainability, Extended Reality & Digital Twin of Physical World: Organized by CEA-Leti, the Joint EuCNC and 6G Summit Sees Telecom Sector as an ‘Enabler for a Sustainabl June 1st, 2022

How a physicist aims to reduce the noise in quantum computing: NAU assistant professor Ryan Behunin received an NSF CAREER grant to study how to reduce the noise produced in the process of quantum computing, which will make it better and more practical April 1st, 2022

Nanobiotechnology

High-tech 'paint' could spare patients repeated surgeries March 8th, 2024

Researchers develop artificial building blocks of life March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

The Access to Advanced Health Institute receives up to $12.7 million to develop novel nanoalum adjuvant formulation for better protection against tuberculosis and pandemic influenza March 8th, 2024

NanoNews-Digest
The latest news from around the world, FREE




  Premium Products
NanoNews-Custom
Only the news you want to read!
 Learn More
NanoStrategies
Full-service, expert consulting
 Learn More











ASP
Nanotechnology Now Featured Books




NNN

The Hunger Project