SELF-i:
Self-reporting immunostimulating formulation for on-demand cancer therapy with real-time treatment response monitoring.
Participant Institutions:
AmTheNA Lab
Project Aim:
Cancer is one of the deadliest threats to mankind in the 21st century. Colorectal cancer in particular is the 3rd most common cancer type in Portugal and represents a serious health problem in several regions of the country.
Colon and rectum cancer incidence in Portugal by region. Reproduced from 'Registro Oncológico Nacional'
This proposal aims to have a positive impact on the prognosis of CRC through an alternative treatment scheme combining local immunostimulation and hyperthermia, plus an optimized decision making protocol based on real-time early treatment response monitoring.
This project proposes the preparation, characterization and in vitro validation of a drug delivery system comprising an inorganic core plus a polymeric coating. The presence of these two components responds to different needs. The inorganic core plays a dual role; on one hand it enables the longitudinal non-invasive detection and tracking of the system via biomedical imaging techniques, while on the other it will be used as external effector to trigger drug release. The second component of the system, the polymer, will be used to encapsulate and, more importantly, release on-demand a cocktail of drugs. A combination of release mechanisms limits the exposure of healthy tissues to the drugs and potentiates the therapeutic effect on the tumour. Together with these responsive drug delivery capabilities, the proposed drug delivery nanocomposite will be equipped with a reporting system for the real-time evaluation of treatment response that will enable the implementation of an early check-point to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment.
Immunotherapy:
Please watch the video below to get an insight into the idea and limitations behind the concept of immunotherapy/immunostimulation
Magnetic Hyperthermia:
Here is another video explaining the classic use of magnetic hyperthermia as cancer treatment.
In this project we want to combine local immunostimulation in the tumor with an alternative application of magnetic hyperthermia to enhance the efficiency of the antitumoral treatment.