[ivanm]

Scientists engineer nanoparticles to prevent bone cancer

by ivanm on Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:27 am

This came out recently from Dana Farber. Nanoparticles have been here and there in the news since 2012, I believe but nothing concrete. In any event, this is something to keep an eye on. Very early stuff, but hey, you never know.

News Release:

Scientists Engineer Nanoparticles to Prevent Bone Cancer, Strengthen Bones
June 30, 2014

A research collaboration between Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and has utilized nanomedicine technologies to develop a drug-delivery system that can precisely target and attack cancer cells in the bone, as well as increase bone strength and volume to prevent bone cancer progression.

The study is published the week of June 30, 2014 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Bone is a favorable microenvironment for the growth of cancer cells that migrate from tumors in distant organs of the body, such as breast, prostate and blood, during disease pro­gres­sion,” said Archana Swami, PhD, BWH Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Biomaterials, co-lead study author. “We engineered and tested a bone-targeted nanoparticle system to selectively target the bone micro­environ­ment and release a therapeutic drug in a spatio­tem­porally con­trolled manner, leading to bone micro­environ­ment remodeling and prevention of disease pro­gression.”

“There are limited treatment options for bone cancers,” added Michaela Reagan, PhD, of Dana-Farber’s Center for Hematologic Oncology, co-lead study author. “Our engineered tar­geted therapies manipulate the tumor cells in the bone and the surrounding micro­en­viron­ment to effectively prevent cancer from spreading in bone with minimal off-target effects.”

The scientists developed stealth nanoparticles made of a combination of clinically validated bio­de­grad­able polymers and alendronate, a clinically validated therapeutic agent, which be­longs to the bisphosphonate class of drugs. Bisphosphonates bind to calcium. The largest store of calcium in the human body is in bones, so bisphosphonates accumulate in high con­cen­tra­tion in bones.

By decorating the surface of the nanoparticles with alendronate, the nanoparticles could home to bone tissue to deliver drugs that are encapsulated within the nanoparticles and kill tumor cells, as well as stimulate healthy bone tissue growth. Furthermore, bisphosphonates are com­monly utilized during the treatment course of cancers with bone metastasis, and thus alen­dronate plays a dual role in the context of these targeted nanoparticles.

The scientists tested their drug-toting nanoparticles in mice with multiple myeloma, a type of bone cancer. The mice were first pre-treated with nanoparticles loaded with the anti-cancer drug, bortezomib, before being injected with myeloma cells. The treatment resulted in slower myeloma growth and prolonged survival. Moreover, the researchers also observed that bor­tez­o­mib, as a pre-treatment regimen, changed the make-up of bone, enhancing its strength and volume.

“These findings suggest that bone-targeted nanoparticle anti-cancer therapies offers a novel way to deliver a concentrated amount of drug in a controlled and target-specific manner to pre­vent tumor progression in multiple myeloma,” said Omid Farokhzad, MD, director of the BWH Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Biomaterials, co-senior study author. “This approach may prove useful in treatment of incidence of bone metastasis, common in 60 to 80 percent of can­cer patients and for treatment of early stages of multiple myeloma.”

Added Irene Ghobrial, MD, of Dana-Farber’s Center for Hematologic Oncology, co-senior study author: “This study provides the proof-of-concept that targeting the bone marrow niche can pre­vent or delay bone metastasis. This work will pave the way for the development of in­no­va­tive clinical trials in patients with myeloma to prevent progression from early precursor stages or in patients with breast, prostate or lung cancer who are at high-risk to develop bone me­tas­tasis.”

This research was supported by the United States Department of Defense (W81XWH-13-1-0390), National Institutes of Health (CA151884, CA133799), Movember-PCF Challenge Award, David Koch-Prostate Cancer Foundation Award in Nanotherapeutics, and a Friends of the Farber Grant.

http://www.dana-farber.org/Newsroom/News-Releases/Scientists-Engineer-Nanoparticles-to-Prevent-Bone-Cancer-Strengthen-Bones.aspx

Abstract of related article:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/06/26/1401337111.abstract

Full text of related article (PDF):
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/06/26/1401337111.full.pdf+html

[NStewart]

Re: Scientists engineer nanoparticles to prevent bone cancer

by NStewart on Fri Jul 11, 2014 12:49 pm

When, and if, this gets to the clinical trial stage, I would sign up for this trial in a second.
Nancy in Phila

[Nico1908]

Re: Scientists engineer nanoparticles to prevent bone cancer

by Nico1908 on Wed Jul 16, 2014 9:25 am

The article says they're looking at this as a possible treatment for early stages of myeloma.

Let's hope someone will develop something similar for the later stages!