NANOTECHNOLOGY:
THE FUTURE OF LUNG CANCER
Editor's Note: Alexandra K. ('16) details the use of nanotechnology to treat diseases in an essay written for the Dupoint Essay Challenge.
It starts with a cough; just an ordinary cough. You think you’ll get over it soon. But you grow more tired every day, and the phlegm turns rust-colored, then to blood. When you finally see a doctor, you learn that it is infinitely more serious than a cold - lung cancer (“Signs and Symptoms of Lung Cancer,” 2014). Like the majority of Americans diagnosed, you only have a four percent chance of living for the next five years because it has metastasized to distant areas beyond the lungs (“Lung Cancer Fact Sheet,” 2014). The original tumor can be removed easily, but a long and arduous chemotherapy treatment is required to deal with the metastases. In addition to killing your tumor, these drugs will kill your healthy cells, causing side effects that are extremely difficult to deal with (“Chemotherapy,” 2014). This treatment is painful and not very effective; at the end of it, you’re likely to only live for a few more months. Now imagine if there was an easier treatment; during your yearly visit to your doctor, a scan reveals the early signs of the cancer forming. You go to an oncologist, receive an injection, and after a couple months of treatment, you’re informed that the cancer has completely disappeared. You never relapse and enjoy a long, fulfilling life. With improved diagnoses comes improved knowledge and a more informed decision as to which drugs to use, increasing the chances of the patient going into complete remission. Nanoparticles will make this possible: they’re incredibly versatile and programmable and will lead to better cancer treatments.
Current tests for cancer are invasive, time-consuming, and inefficient, but that could change with nanotechnology. If one suspects cancer, current methods, including near-infrared fluorescence imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and dual PET-MRI scans, are all used to identify cancers but do so slowly and imprecisely. Injected nanoparticles are designed to be taken up by the bloodstream and transported to the problem site. Since they are more easily detected than cancers, they will glow like a lighthouse when the body is scanned, leading oncologists directly to the mainland of the issue, if one exists (Li, 2014; Greenemeier, 2007). Another option is to look for signs of cancer instead of the cancer itself. These signs are cancer biomarkers, molecules that cancer cells excrete. Machines currently used to analyze biopsy samples for these biomarkers can fill a whole room and take days. By using a microchip and a handheld device, a biopsy sample could be analyzed within an hour, informing oncologists as to the type and severity of the cancer (Courage, 2009). Using nanotechnology to diagnose cancer would shorten the time it takes to make a diagnosis and increase the accuracy of the results. The faster a cancer is diagnosed, the less time it has to spread.
Beyond detection, nanotechnology can be used to target cell types to eliminate the tumor. Current chemotherapy drugs are cytotoxic - they kill all cells, including healthy ones, resulting in the horrific side effects that make going through cancer treatment so miserable. If the drugs were deliverable to only cancer cells, treatment would be easier on patients, and much more effective. Different cell types have different identifying features, like a fingerprint. These are called cell surface markers, and they make excellent targets for nanoparticles. Targeting these markers with nanoparticles is called active targeting. For example, a particle called Accurins is currently in the works, which uses chemicals that target and bind to cell markers because of their chemical composition (“Accurins,” 2014). Another study used hyaluronic acid (HA), a compound that is present in healthy cells during cell division, to build the nanoparticle (Necas, 2008). Because cancer cells divide frequently, lots of HA is brought into the tumor, including the nanoparticles. Another method of targeting is passive targeting. Due to their rapid division, cancer cells require an exorbitant amount of nutrients, which are obtained through blood. The blood vessels in the area are rerouted to bring more blood to the tumor; by making the nanoparticles out of materials that are easily transported by blood, researchers ensure that they reach the tumor in large quantities (Fang, 2011). Two materials are used in this strategy: HA and gold nanoparticles. The former is easily transported because it’s native to the body (Jiang, 2014), the latter because of their small size (Greenemeier, 2009). The gold nanoparticles either latch onto and kill the cells or act as a beacon to bring a second batch of nanoparticles to the tumor (Greenemeier, 2009). Nanotechnology can target cell types to kill cancer cells, and only cancer cells, sparing the patient of serious side effects.
Once the nanoparticles find the tumor, they still need to kill it. Most nanoparticles do so by releasing drugs, either through drug conjugates (Aryal, 2010), a polymer matrix (“Accurins,” 2014), or by utilizing cell functions to break the particle down (Jiang, 2014). These all have their benefits - drug conjugates, or two drugs delivered as a pair, effectively kill the tumor from two angles, increasing the chances of killing every cell (Aryal, 2010). By using a polymer matrix or cell function, two different drugs can be released at different times, or one drug can be released over a certain timeframe to ensure maximum delivery to the cell. By profiling the tumor as discussed earlier, oncologists would be able to determine which drugs are most effective for the specific cancer. This would greatly increase the efficiency of cancer treatment; currently, oncologists often do not use the best drugs for a tumor simply because they have no way of knowing which is best. Instead of throwing drugs at the body and hoping for the best, nanotechnology will be able to target specific cells with the best drug, sparing the healthy body but killing the tumor more effectively and efficiently than is currently being done.
Nanotechnology is able to accomplish much that we can only dream about currently. Some difficulties still remain, so it’s hard to predict when these technologies will be available for use. It’s also hard to predict how much they will cost, but one thing is certain: they will be more effective than traditional medicines, making them more cost-effective. Overall, nanotechnology will lead to improved cancer treatment for the future.
Current tests for cancer are invasive, time-consuming, and inefficient, but that could change with nanotechnology. If one suspects cancer, current methods, including near-infrared fluorescence imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and dual PET-MRI scans, are all used to identify cancers but do so slowly and imprecisely. Injected nanoparticles are designed to be taken up by the bloodstream and transported to the problem site. Since they are more easily detected than cancers, they will glow like a lighthouse when the body is scanned, leading oncologists directly to the mainland of the issue, if one exists (Li, 2014; Greenemeier, 2007). Another option is to look for signs of cancer instead of the cancer itself. These signs are cancer biomarkers, molecules that cancer cells excrete. Machines currently used to analyze biopsy samples for these biomarkers can fill a whole room and take days. By using a microchip and a handheld device, a biopsy sample could be analyzed within an hour, informing oncologists as to the type and severity of the cancer (Courage, 2009). Using nanotechnology to diagnose cancer would shorten the time it takes to make a diagnosis and increase the accuracy of the results. The faster a cancer is diagnosed, the less time it has to spread.
Beyond detection, nanotechnology can be used to target cell types to eliminate the tumor. Current chemotherapy drugs are cytotoxic - they kill all cells, including healthy ones, resulting in the horrific side effects that make going through cancer treatment so miserable. If the drugs were deliverable to only cancer cells, treatment would be easier on patients, and much more effective. Different cell types have different identifying features, like a fingerprint. These are called cell surface markers, and they make excellent targets for nanoparticles. Targeting these markers with nanoparticles is called active targeting. For example, a particle called Accurins is currently in the works, which uses chemicals that target and bind to cell markers because of their chemical composition (“Accurins,” 2014). Another study used hyaluronic acid (HA), a compound that is present in healthy cells during cell division, to build the nanoparticle (Necas, 2008). Because cancer cells divide frequently, lots of HA is brought into the tumor, including the nanoparticles. Another method of targeting is passive targeting. Due to their rapid division, cancer cells require an exorbitant amount of nutrients, which are obtained through blood. The blood vessels in the area are rerouted to bring more blood to the tumor; by making the nanoparticles out of materials that are easily transported by blood, researchers ensure that they reach the tumor in large quantities (Fang, 2011). Two materials are used in this strategy: HA and gold nanoparticles. The former is easily transported because it’s native to the body (Jiang, 2014), the latter because of their small size (Greenemeier, 2009). The gold nanoparticles either latch onto and kill the cells or act as a beacon to bring a second batch of nanoparticles to the tumor (Greenemeier, 2009). Nanotechnology can target cell types to kill cancer cells, and only cancer cells, sparing the patient of serious side effects.
Once the nanoparticles find the tumor, they still need to kill it. Most nanoparticles do so by releasing drugs, either through drug conjugates (Aryal, 2010), a polymer matrix (“Accurins,” 2014), or by utilizing cell functions to break the particle down (Jiang, 2014). These all have their benefits - drug conjugates, or two drugs delivered as a pair, effectively kill the tumor from two angles, increasing the chances of killing every cell (Aryal, 2010). By using a polymer matrix or cell function, two different drugs can be released at different times, or one drug can be released over a certain timeframe to ensure maximum delivery to the cell. By profiling the tumor as discussed earlier, oncologists would be able to determine which drugs are most effective for the specific cancer. This would greatly increase the efficiency of cancer treatment; currently, oncologists often do not use the best drugs for a tumor simply because they have no way of knowing which is best. Instead of throwing drugs at the body and hoping for the best, nanotechnology will be able to target specific cells with the best drug, sparing the healthy body but killing the tumor more effectively and efficiently than is currently being done.
Nanotechnology is able to accomplish much that we can only dream about currently. Some difficulties still remain, so it’s hard to predict when these technologies will be available for use. It’s also hard to predict how much they will cost, but one thing is certain: they will be more effective than traditional medicines, making them more cost-effective. Overall, nanotechnology will lead to improved cancer treatment for the future.
“Accurins.” BIND Therapeutics. 2014. Web. 12 Jan. 2015. <http://bindtherapeutics.com/technology/accurins.html.>
Aryal, S., C.-M. J. Hu, and L. Zhang. “Combinatorial Drug Conjugation Enables Nanoparticle Dual-Drug Delivery. Small, 6 (13).” 17 June 2010. Web. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smll.201000631/abstract.>
“Chemotherapy.” American Lung Association. 2014. Web. 8 Jan. 2015. <http://www.lung.org/lung-disease/lung-cancer/treating-lung-cancer/how-is-lung-cancer-treated/chemotherapy.html.>
Courage, Katherine H. “Could a microchip help to diagnose cancer in minutes?” Scientific American Blog Network. 28 Sept. 2009. Web. 3 Jan. 2015. <http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2009/09/28/could-a-microchip-help-to-diagnose-cancer-in-minutes/.>
Courage, Katherine H. “Programmable nanomedicine cancer treatment shrinks human tumors.” Scientific American Blog Network. 4 Apr. 2012. Web. 5 Jan. 2015. <http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/04/04/programmable-nanomedicine-cancer-treatment-shrinks-human-tumors/.>
Fang, J., H. Nakamura, and H. Maeda. “The EPR effect: Unique features of tumor blood vessels for drug delivery, factors involved, and limitations and augmentation of the effect.” Elsevier, 63 (3). 18 Mar. 2011. Web. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169409X10000906.>
Greenemeier, Larry. “Nanoparticles enable surgical strikes against cancer.”
Scientific American. 7 Nov. 2007. Web. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nanoparticles-nanotech-cancer-tumor/.>
Greenemeier, Larry. “Preying on a tumor's weakness with nanotechnology to fight cancer.” Scientific American. 3 Mar. 2009. Web. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gold-nanotech-fights-cancer/.>
Jiang, T., R. Mo, A. Bellotti, J. Zhou, and Z. Gu. “Gel–Liposome-Mediated Co-Delivery of Anticancer Membrane-Associated Proteins and Small-Molecule Drugs for Enhanced Therapeutic Efficacy.” Advanced Functional Materials, 24 (16). 2 Jan. 2014. Web. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adfm.201303222/full.>
Li, Y., T. Lin, Y. Luo, Q. Liu, W. Xiao, W. Guo, D. Lac, H. Zhang, C. Feng, S. Wachsmann-Hogiu, J. H. Walton, S. R. Cherry, D. J. Rowland, D. Kukis, C. Pan, and K. S. Lam. “A smart and versatile theranostic nanomedicine platform based on nanoporphyrin.” Nature Communications, 5. 26 Aug. 2014. Web. <http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140826/ncomms5712/full/ncomms5712.html.>
“Lung cancer fact sheet.” American Lung Association. 2014. Web. 8 Jan. 2015. <http://www.lung.org/lung-disease/lung-cancer/resources/facts-figures/lung-cancer-fact-sheet.html.>
Necas, J., L. Bartosikova, P. Brauner, and J. Kolar. “Hyaluronic acid (hyaluronan): a review.” Veterinarni Medicina, 53, (8). 2008. Web. <http://agriculturejournals.cz/publicFiles/02029.pdf.>
Rockoff, Jonathan D. The guided-missile cancer treatment. “The Wall Street Journal.” 5 Apr. 2013. Web. <http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323826704578356482668645090.>
“Signs and symptoms of lung cancer.” American Cancer Society. 2014. Web. 8 Jan. 2015. <http://www.cancer.org/cancer/lungcancer-non-smallcell/moreinformation/lungcancerpreventionandearlydetection/lung-cancer-prevention-and-early-detection-signs-and-symptoms.>
“Surgery.” American Lung Association. 2014. Web. 8 Jan. 2015. <http://www.lung.org/lung-disease/lung-cancer/treating-lung-cancer/how-is-lung-cancer-treated/surgery.html.>
Zhang, L., A. F. Radovic-Moreno, F. Alexis, F. X. Gu, P. A. Basto, V. Bagalkot, S. Jon, R. S. Langer, and O. C. Farokhzad. “Co-Delivery of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Drugs from Nanoparticle–Aptamer Bioconjugates.” ChemMedChem, 2. 10 Sept. 2007. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cmdc.200700121/abstract.>
Aryal, S., C.-M. J. Hu, and L. Zhang. “Combinatorial Drug Conjugation Enables Nanoparticle Dual-Drug Delivery. Small, 6 (13).” 17 June 2010. Web. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smll.201000631/abstract.>
“Chemotherapy.” American Lung Association. 2014. Web. 8 Jan. 2015. <http://www.lung.org/lung-disease/lung-cancer/treating-lung-cancer/how-is-lung-cancer-treated/chemotherapy.html.>
Courage, Katherine H. “Could a microchip help to diagnose cancer in minutes?” Scientific American Blog Network. 28 Sept. 2009. Web. 3 Jan. 2015. <http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2009/09/28/could-a-microchip-help-to-diagnose-cancer-in-minutes/.>
Courage, Katherine H. “Programmable nanomedicine cancer treatment shrinks human tumors.” Scientific American Blog Network. 4 Apr. 2012. Web. 5 Jan. 2015. <http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/04/04/programmable-nanomedicine-cancer-treatment-shrinks-human-tumors/.>
Fang, J., H. Nakamura, and H. Maeda. “The EPR effect: Unique features of tumor blood vessels for drug delivery, factors involved, and limitations and augmentation of the effect.” Elsevier, 63 (3). 18 Mar. 2011. Web. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169409X10000906.>
Greenemeier, Larry. “Nanoparticles enable surgical strikes against cancer.”
Scientific American. 7 Nov. 2007. Web. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nanoparticles-nanotech-cancer-tumor/.>
Greenemeier, Larry. “Preying on a tumor's weakness with nanotechnology to fight cancer.” Scientific American. 3 Mar. 2009. Web. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gold-nanotech-fights-cancer/.>
Jiang, T., R. Mo, A. Bellotti, J. Zhou, and Z. Gu. “Gel–Liposome-Mediated Co-Delivery of Anticancer Membrane-Associated Proteins and Small-Molecule Drugs for Enhanced Therapeutic Efficacy.” Advanced Functional Materials, 24 (16). 2 Jan. 2014. Web. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adfm.201303222/full.>
Li, Y., T. Lin, Y. Luo, Q. Liu, W. Xiao, W. Guo, D. Lac, H. Zhang, C. Feng, S. Wachsmann-Hogiu, J. H. Walton, S. R. Cherry, D. J. Rowland, D. Kukis, C. Pan, and K. S. Lam. “A smart and versatile theranostic nanomedicine platform based on nanoporphyrin.” Nature Communications, 5. 26 Aug. 2014. Web. <http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140826/ncomms5712/full/ncomms5712.html.>
“Lung cancer fact sheet.” American Lung Association. 2014. Web. 8 Jan. 2015. <http://www.lung.org/lung-disease/lung-cancer/resources/facts-figures/lung-cancer-fact-sheet.html.>
Necas, J., L. Bartosikova, P. Brauner, and J. Kolar. “Hyaluronic acid (hyaluronan): a review.” Veterinarni Medicina, 53, (8). 2008. Web. <http://agriculturejournals.cz/publicFiles/02029.pdf.>
Rockoff, Jonathan D. The guided-missile cancer treatment. “The Wall Street Journal.” 5 Apr. 2013. Web. <http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323826704578356482668645090.>
“Signs and symptoms of lung cancer.” American Cancer Society. 2014. Web. 8 Jan. 2015. <http://www.cancer.org/cancer/lungcancer-non-smallcell/moreinformation/lungcancerpreventionandearlydetection/lung-cancer-prevention-and-early-detection-signs-and-symptoms.>
“Surgery.” American Lung Association. 2014. Web. 8 Jan. 2015. <http://www.lung.org/lung-disease/lung-cancer/treating-lung-cancer/how-is-lung-cancer-treated/surgery.html.>
Zhang, L., A. F. Radovic-Moreno, F. Alexis, F. X. Gu, P. A. Basto, V. Bagalkot, S. Jon, R. S. Langer, and O. C. Farokhzad. “Co-Delivery of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Drugs from Nanoparticle–Aptamer Bioconjugates.” ChemMedChem, 2. 10 Sept. 2007. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cmdc.200700121/abstract.>
