We are developing a nanosystem to mitigate the off-target toxicity of an anticancer drug by precisely managing its instant concentration in healthy tissue <i>versus</i> tumor. Specifically, phase-change materials with a sharp melting point at 39 <sup>o</sup>C are formulated from natural fatty acids and further processed as uniform nanoparticles. The anticancer drug is directly loaded into the interior of the nanoparticles, in addition to the inclusion of a near-infrared dye for photothermal heating to quickly melt the solid matrix. For the nanoparticles accumulated inside the tumor, the drug is triggered to quickly release at a concentration above the lethal dose through the application of near-infrared irradiation. For those in healthy tissue, the drug is released very slowly at a safe dose as the carrier is naturally degraded. Additionally, the chemotherapy can be combined with photo-hypothermia to further improve the outcome while reducing the dosage of anticancer drug(s) involved. When optimized, this nanosystem promises to eradicate cancer cells in high efficacy, without involving the off-target toxicity and adverse impacts commonly associated with chemotherapy.

Mitigating the off-target toxicity of nanomedicines through controlled release

256th National Meeting (2018)

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