Nanoparticles are engineered materials that are 100 nanometers or less in size. (A nanometer is one billionth of a meter.) Nanoparticles impregnated with drugs are called nanomedicines.
"We will be investigating nanomedicines for both imaging and treating pancreatic tumors," said Einstein-Montefiore principal investigator Steven Libutti, M.D., professor and vice chair of surgery at Einstein and Montefiore, director of the Montefiore-Einstein Center for Cancer Care, and associate director for clinical services of the Albert Einstein Cancer Center. "Our part of the consortium is developing nanoparticles that will specifically target unique aspects of the blood vessels found in pancreatic adenocarcinomas and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors."
Steven Libutti, M.DPancreatic cancer is the fourth-leading cause of all cancer deaths. Currently, there is no test for early detection of the disease, which killed nearly 37,000 people in 2010. Only 5.6 percent of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer live for five years or longer, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. Libutti has developed mice that are genetically programmed to form pancreatic tumors that mimic those seen in people. These mice will be used for testing a variety of nanoparticle-based drugs produced by other collaborators. Such studies will reveal whether the particles can home in on disease locations and deliver therapeutic benefits. Dr. Libutti's clinical practice involves the surgical management of patients with cancer, including those with pancreatic cancer. A main focus of his research is the formation of new blood vessels that nourish tumors.
Identifying the most promising nanoparticle-based drugs for pancreatic as well as ovarian cancer will take several years. Clinical trials are not likely to begin until the end of the five-year project.
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In addition to Einstein the other institutions that are members of the Texas Center for Cancer Nanomedicine involved in the nanotech consortium are the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, the Methodist Hospital Research Institute, and Rice University.
About Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University is one of the nation's premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. During the 2009-2010 academic year, Einstein is home to 722 M.D. students, 243 Ph.D. students, 128 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and approximately 350 postdoctoral research fellows. The College of Medicine has 2,775 fulltime faculty members located on the main campus and at its clinical affiliates. In 2009, Einstein received more than $155 million in support from the NIH.
This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in diabetes, cancer, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Through its extensive affiliation network involving five medical centers in the Bronx, Manhattan and Long Island - which includes Montefiore Medical Center, The University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for Einstein - the College of Medicine runs one of the largest post-graduate medical training programs in the United States, offering approximately 150 residency programs to more than 2,500 physicians in training. For more information, please visit www.einstein.yu.edu
Contact: Kim Newman sciencenews@einstein.yu.edu 718-430-3101 Albert Einstein College of Medicine
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