Tiny Drug Delivery System for Cancer Treatment
Ultra-Small Epigenetic-Regulating Nanocarrier for Enhanced Synthetic Lethal Therapy
This project is creating a new way to deliver cancer medications more effectively to tumors, especially for cancers that don't respond well to current treatments.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Nebraska Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Omaha, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11135476 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Current cancer treatments like PARP inhibitors work well for some cancers, but many others are resistant. This project aims to combine PARP inhibitors with another drug, 5-azacytidine, to make them more effective. The challenge is that these two drugs are hard to deliver together to tumors due to their different properties. Researchers are developing a tiny delivery system, called a nanocarrier, designed to carry both drugs directly into cancer cells. This nanocarrier is expected to specifically target tumors and penetrate deep inside them, potentially making the combination therapy much more powerful.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Patients with cancers that are currently resistant to PARP inhibitors or who could benefit from enhanced combination therapies might be ideal candidates for future clinical applications.
Not a fit: Patients whose cancer types do not involve the specific pathways targeted by PARP inhibitors or 5-azacytidine may not receive direct benefit from this particular approach.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could make existing cancer drugs more effective for a wider range of cancers, potentially leading to better treatment outcomes.
How similar studies have performed: PARP inhibitors and 5-azacytidine have shown success individually and in combination in some preclinical and clinical settings, but this specific nanocarrier-based co-delivery method is a novel approach.
Where this research is happening
Omaha, United States
- University of Nebraska Medical Center — Omaha, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Sun, Jingjing — University of Nebraska Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Sun, Jingjing
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.