Tracking New Cancer-Killing Particles With MRI

Researchers at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) have created a single nanoparticle that can be tracked in real time with MRI as it homes in on cancer cells, tags them with a fluorescent dye and kills them with heat. The all-in-one particle is one of the first examples from a growing field called “theranostics” that develops technologies physicians can use to diagnose and treat diseases in a single procedure.

The research is available online in the journal Advanced Functional Materials. Tests so far involve laboratory cell cultures, but the researchers said MRI tracking will be particularly advantageous as they move toward tests in animals and people.

“Some of the most essential questions in nanomedicine today are about biodistribution — where particles go inside the body and how they get there,” said study co-author Naomi Halas. “Noninvasive tests for biodistribution will be enormously useful on the path to FDA approval, and this technique — adding MRI functionality to the particle you’re testing and using for therapy — is a very promising way of doing this.”

Halas, Rice’s Stanley C. Moore Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and professor of chemistry and biomedical engineering, is a pioneer in nanomedicine. The all-in-one particles are based on nanoshells — particles she invented in the 1990s that are currently in human clinical trials for cancer treatment. Nanoshells harvest laser light that would normally pass harmlessly through the body and convert it into tumor-killing heat. Read more

Pancreatic And Colorectal Cancer Novel Antibody Developed From A Vaccine To Begin Phase I Trial

Neogenix Oncology, Inc. (Neogenix) announced that NPC-1C, the company’s first IND (Investigational New Drug Application) was granted permission by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the company to begin a Phase I trial.

NPC-1C is derived from a colorectal cancer vaccine that had previously demonstrated safety and clinical activity in prior human studies. NPC-1C is a novel, monoclonal antibody intended for the treatment of advanced pancreatic and colorectal cancer.

This first human trial will evaluate the safety of NPC-1C in patients with late stage pancreatic or colorectal cancer. Anti-tumor activity has been demonstrated in both in-vitro ADCC assays and in multiple animal studies.

“The approval of our first IND for the initiation of our Phase I trial represents an important milestone toward the development of what could prove to be a breakthrough in cancer diagnostics and therapeutics,” said Neogenix President and Chief Medical Officer, Philip M. Arlen, MD. “This Phase I trial will evaluate NPC-1C in 12-24 patients with pancreatic or colorectal cancer and should provide important additional data regarding the safety and activity of our antibody. We expect the trial to complete enrollment in approximately 6-8 months.”
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