Smart & Targeted Drug Delivery Systems
The tumor microenvironment poses physical barriers that limits the penetrance and effectiveness of systemically injected anti-cancer agents. The abnormal and poorly functioning tumor-associated vasculature renders homogeneous drug distribution impossible. In brain tumors like glioblastoma, these aberrancies are made even more complicated by the presence of a semi-intact blood-brain-barrier (i.e., the “blood-tumor-barrier”). Engineering-based approaches can provide solutions for smarter drug delivery systems – targeted specifically to the tumor endothelium and local microenvironment – including but not limited to:
- Passive and active uptake mechanisms
- Nano-/micro-particle delivery vehicles
- Immunoengineering for cell-based therapies
- Chemical, thermal, or mechanical delivery/release
Publications
Arvanitis C.*, Askoxylakis V.*, Guo Y., Datta M., Kloepper J., Ferraro G.B., Bernabeu M.O., Fukumura D., McDannold N., and Jain R.K. (2018) “Mechanisms of enhanced drug delivery in brain metastases with focused ultrasound-induced blood-tumor barrier disruption,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115: E8717-E8726. (* = equal contributions.) Featured in Technology.org, EurekAlert and Medical Xpress.
Carr J.A., Franke D., Caram J.R., Perkinson C.F., Saif M., Askoxylakis V., Datta M., Fukumura D., Jain R.K., Bawendi M.G., and Bruns O.T. (2018) “Shortwave Infrared Fluorescence Imaging with the Clinically Approved Near-Infrared Dye Indocyanine Green,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 115: 4465-4470. Featured in MIT News and SciTech Daily.