Polymeric RNAi Microsponge Delivery Simultaneously Targeting Multiple Genes for Novel Pathway Inhibition of Ovarian Cancer
Abstract
Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) affects an average of 21,000 women a year and about 13,000 patients with this disease die every year in the United States. Standard treatment includes debulking surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. For 80% of women, this treatment is effective and results in tumor shrinkage. Unfortunately, the tumor eventually recurs, becomes chemotherapy-resistant, and most women will eventually die of an increasingly resistant tumor. Ovarian cancers are characterized by increased (amplification) amounts of genes that cause the tumors to grow and spread. A strategy to address this abnormality would be to block the expression of these genes. RNA inhibitors (RNAi) are agents that can effectively do this. However, therapeutic use of RNAi is currently not possible due to the difficulty in delivering RNAi molecules to the tumor without causing any systemic toxicity. Current systems allow delivering only a small number of RNAis to the tumor, which is not efficient to provide a therapeutic effect. This project uses a new technology where many RNAi molecules are packaged into very small particles (nanoparticles) that can be delivered to the tumor in a more efficient manner. Use of RNAi through these nanoparticles causes much less systemic toxicity and more anti-tumor activity. The use of this technology will allow for the targeting of many of the overexpressed genes that cause ovarian cancers to grow.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 04, 2016
- Source ID
- W81XWH1510139
Entities
People
- Michael Birrer
Organizations
- Massachusetts General Hospital
- United States Army