NCI Supports Nanoscale Cancer-fighting Device Development

Under a new initiative, the National Cancer Institute (NCI; Bethesda, MD) is funding the development of nanoscale devices that could move traditional cancer therapy beyond the realm of pharmaceuticals and chemotherapeutic agents to more effectively target and destroy tumor cells.

NCI in early October launched a major component of its $144.3 million, five-year project for nanotechnology in cancer research by awarding first-year grants totaling $26.3 million to universities across the country to help establish seven Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNEs). These centers will develop nanotechnology platforms to help treat, understand, and monitor cancer.

NCI’s Barker: Networking cancer research.

In what we believe will be a paradigm shift for cancer research, unprecedented numbers of multidisciplinary teams of basic and clinical researchers at world-class institutions are networking their research together to focus on the key cancer nanotech opportunities,” says Anna Barker, PhD, NCI deputy director. “With the advent of the CCNEs, we are particularly looking forward to new nanotech-based therapeutic delivery systems that could enhance the efficacy and tolerability of cancer treatments.”

Each CCNE awardee is affiliated with at least one NCI-designated cancer center, as well as schools of engineering and physical sciences. The universities are also affiliated with nonprofit and private-sector firms that are focused on advancing the technologies being developed under the initiative.

Several of the CCNEs will be the result of collaborations between two universities. The centers will be established through the following academic institutions.

• University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC).

• Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta).

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University (Cambridge, MA).

• Northwestern University (Evanston, IL).

• California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA).

• Washington University (St. Louis, MO).

• University of California, San Diego (UCSD).

UCSD’s Carson: Reaching the target.

“W e are developing powerful drugs and other chemotherapeutic agents that are more and more effective when they reach their target,” says Dennis Carson, MD, director of the Moores Cancer Center at UCSD. “ But we need engineers and materials scientists to build the nanodevices that can deliver these agents to the target.”

UCSD, which received $3.9 million for the program’s first year, will focus on developing “mother ships,” nanoplatforms capable of homing in on tumors and delivering payloads of smaller particles to the tumor to perform various tasks, including imaging, measuring, and delivering therapies.

Representatives from private-sector companies, including General Electric Co. (Fairfield, CT), Nanogen (San Diego), and Enterprise Partners Venture Capital (La Jolla, CA), will regularly evaluate the progress of UCSD’s research to help identify commercial potential for inventions.

The NCI cancer nanotechnology initiative was launched in September 2004 and includes four major components, one of which is the establishment of the CCNEs. The other three components are as follows.

• Cancer nanotechnology platform partnerships, which are programs designed to develop the technologies to support new products in six areas: molecular imaging and early detection, in vivo imaging, real-time assessment of treatment, multifunctional therapeutics, prevention and control, and opening new pathways for research. Twelve five-year awards, with first-year funding totaling $7 million, were slated to be announced by the end of October.

• The Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory (Frederick, MD), which was established earlier this year. The lab conducts analytical tests to guide the research community, support regulatory decisions, and help monitor various ramifications of nanotech applications.

• Multidisciplinary research training and team development. This component supports initiatives to establish integrated teams of cancer researchers from varied fields of study.

© 2005 Canon Communications LLC

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