Childhood cancer patients often suffer severe unintended effects with chemotherapy treatment. Strategies that may improve the delivery of anti-cancer agents specifically to tumor cells wouldn’t only increase the effectiveness of a chemotherapy, but additionally would cut back its systemic toxicity. A molecular vehicle is required that would goal tumor cells – nanoparticles provide such a possible vehicle. Nanoparticles can loosely be defined as synthetic structures with dimensions starting from 1-100 nanometers (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, in regards to the size of a water molecule), whose unique properties, a minimum of partly, rely upon their physical size and component chemistry. Many contain a hole core into which a big selection of cargo could be packaged.
Dr. Federman will develop and test targeted nanoparticles to treat pediatric sarcomas (aggressive and infrequently lethal bone and soft tissue cancers), wherein the survival rate for patients is lower than 20% despite incredibly aggressive chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation treatments. This completely novel and high-risk project can be a breakthrough in our current treatment of pediatric cancers, resulting in the event of powerful recent therapeutic strategies in aggressive childhood malignancies. If successful, we hope to rapidly translate this technology from the laboratory bench to the patient’s bedside.
Learn more at www.mattel.ucla.edu
