Grant: Project Grant

Cancer is a leading cause of death in Canada. Towards improving patient survival, new types of therapies are being developed. Two new and very different types of cancer therapies include drug carriers that can better target chemotherapeutic drugs to solid tumours, and systems based outside the patient that can non-invasively damage tumour blood vessels, cutting off the tumour to its required blood supply. In this project, Drs. Matsuura, Goertz, Allen and Shultz propose to design and test a new type of drug carrier that can both carry and deliver chemotherapeutic drugs to the tumour while shutting down its blood supply, all controlled remotely using a focused ultrasound source from outside the patient. In this way, the solid tumour will be treated using two different therapies at once, which can result in greater efficacy compared to each treatment alone. The new drug carrier will be iteratively assessed and optimized in the laboratory using state-of-the-art analytical systems under relevant physiological conditions, followed by pilot studies in small animal models of cancer. As this proposed system is entirely composed of individually Health Canada-approved therapies, once optimized, this technology can be expedited for use in Canadian cancer patients.