Cancer remains a leading cause of mortality worldwide and its incidence is expected to increase dramatically in the next decades due to epigenetic factors, increased lifespan of population and better management of cardiovascular diseases. Many cancers are very hard to treat because in early stages they are asymptomatic, and relatively hard to detect under routine investigations. Finding new methods for early cancer detection and efficient treatment is thus essential for better management of many malignancies. In this context, it was recognized that microtumors generated from early malignant cells that divide rapidly become quickly hypoxic due to lack of vascularization. Hypoxia triggers the expression of HIF-1, which in turn triggers the expression of more than 500 genes that are translated into H+ pumps, various transporters, proteins involved in angiogenesis and in different metabolic pathways that become overexpressed in hypoxic tumors such as glycolysis, anabolic processes, etc. Among the proteins expressed to support malignant cell metabolism and homeostasis is a membrane-bound isozyme of carbonic anhydrase, namely CA IX. We will present the latest developments in our lab towards targeting CA IX with various soft and hard nanosystems and their applications towards hypoxic tumor detection and towards their treatment, either alone, or in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs as novel theranostic targeted drug delivery systems.

Carbonic anhydrase IX targeted nanosystems for hypoxic tumor detection and treatment

254th National Meeting (2017)

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