Office of Cancer nanotechnology Research, Center for Strategic Initiatives, National Cancer Institute, NIH, 31 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Biotechnol Adv. 2014 Jul-Aug;32(4):666-78. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2013.08.003. Epub 2013 Aug 12.
Although the incidence of cancer and cancer related deaths in the United States has decreased over the past two decades due to improvements in early detection and treatment, cancer still is responsible for a quarter of the deaths in this country. There is much room for improvement on the standard treatments currently available and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has recognized the potential for nanotechnology and nanomaterials in this area. The NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer was formed in 2004 to support multidisciplinary researchers in the application of nanotechnology to cancer diagnosis and treatment. The researchers in the Alliance have been productive in generating innovative solutions to some of the central issues of cancer treatment including how to detect tumors earlier, how to target cancer cells specifically, and how to improve the therapeutic index of existing chemotherapies and radiotherapy treatments. Highly creative ideas are being pursued where novelty in nanomaterial development enables new modalities of detection or therapy. This review highlights some of the innovative materials approaches being pursued by researchers funded by the NCI Alliance. Their discoveries to improve the functionality of nanoparticles for medical applications includes the generation of new platforms, improvements in the manufacturing of nanoparticles and determining the underlying reasons for the movement of nanoparticles in the blood.
尽管由于早期检测和治疗的改进，美国过去二十年来癌症和癌症相关死亡的发病率有所下降，但癌症仍占该国四分之一的死亡人数。目前可用的标准治疗方法还有很大的改进空间，美国国家癌症研究所（NCI）已经认识到纳米技术和纳米材料在这一领域的潜力。2004 年成立了 NCI 癌症纳米技术联盟，以支持多学科研究人员将纳米技术应用于癌症诊断和治疗。该联盟的研究人员在解决癌症治疗的一些核心问题方面取得了富有成效的成果，包括如何更早地检测肿瘤，如何更有针对性地靶向癌细胞，以及如何提高现有化疗和放疗治疗的治疗指数。高度创造性的想法正在被探索，纳米材料的新颖发展为检测或治疗开辟了新途径。这篇综述重点介绍了 NCI 联盟资助的研究人员正在探索的一些创新材料方法。他们为改善医疗应用中纳米颗粒的功能而进行的发现包括新平台的产生、纳米颗粒制造的改进以及确定纳米颗粒在血液中移动的根本原因。
