PS-OC CTO Project 1

Physical Sciences — Oncology Center Project 1
The overall goal of Project 1 is to develop a broader understanding of the physical barriers and biological factors involved in the progression of liver metastasis in orthotopic tumor models of colorectal cancer (CRC) and to design novel biocompatible delivery carriers able to overcome or take advantage of these barriers with favorable pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution profiles for the highly efficient delivery of novel therapeutic and imaging agents. A physics- and biology-driven and mathematics-based design of engineered drug delivery vectors will multiply the probability of recognition of the novel targets, providing a synergistic solution for imaging and therapy of CRC liver metastasis within the interface of physics, engineering, mathematics and cancer biology.

Project 1: Directed transport physics and multi-scale therapy of colon cancer liver metastasis (Ferrari/Fidler): Targeting of multistage carrier to (left) endothelial vessel walls through specific ligands; (right) to phagocytic cells of the liver (Kupffer cells) that preferentially localize to metastatic loci. One of the therapy methods to be investigated includes thermal RF ablation.