{"193711":{"#nid":"193711","#data":{"type":"event","title":"Integrated Cancer Research Seminar Series","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDai Fukumura, PhD\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAssociate Professor of Radiation Oncology, Harvard Medical School\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAssociate Biologist, Edwin L. Steele Laboratory for Tumor Biology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0022Targeting tumor microvasculature and microenvironment: Strategies to exploit and overcome\u0022\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBlood vessels in solid tumors have abnormal and heterogeneous organization, structure, and function (e.g., hyper-permeability, heterogeneous and compromised blood flow) resulting in abnormal microenvironment (e.g., hypoxia, acidosis, elevated interstitial fluid pressure) and hindrance of the delivery and efficacy of therapeutic agents.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHowever, we can exploit aberrant microenvironment in tumors for selective treatment of tumors. Enhanced permeability and retention effect of tumor vasculature allows selective delivery of relatively large size nanomedicine to tumors. Such nanoparticles not only increase therapeutic index but also allow delivering toxic agents and hydrophobic drugs to tumors. However, a crucial drawback of this approach is that these nanoparticles cannot penetrate into tumor tissues after the extravasation and are stuck in the perivascular area. We propose to solve this dichotomy by developing a multistage nanoparticle delivery system such that changes its size upon exposure to enzymes uniquely present in tumor tissues. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn addition to optimizing the delivery vehicle, we would need to modulate tumor microenvironment to overcome the barriers to drug efficacy. For example, restoring tissue balance of pro- and anti-angiogenic factors can \u201cnormalize\u201d tumor vasculature, improve its function and microenvironment, and thus, enhance cytotoxic treatment efficacy.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has been a leader in the development of collaborative approaches to both cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. The mission of the Integrated Cancer Research Center (ICRC) is to facilitate integration of the diversity of technological, computational, scientific and medical expertise at Georgia Tech and partner institutions in a coordinated effort to develop improved cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"\u0022Targeting tumor microvasculature and microenvironment: Strategies to exploit and overcome\u0022 - Dai Fukumura, PhD - Harvard Medical School, Edwin L. Steele Laboratory for Tumor Biology"}],"uid":"27195","created_gmt":"2013-02-20 10:44:18","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 02:02:37","author":"Colly Mitchell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2013-04-16T17:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2013-04-16T18:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2013-04-16T18:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2013-04-16 21:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2013-04-16 22:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2013-04-16 22:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.massgeneral.org\/cancer\/research\/researchlab.aspx?id=1209","title":"Fukumura lab"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ibb.gatech.edu\/icrc-seminars","title":"ICRC Seminar Series schedule"}],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"},{"id":"65448","name":"Bioengineering Graduate Program"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"59141","name":"dai fukumura"},{"id":"248","name":"IBB"},{"id":"52061","name":"ICRC Seminar"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1795","name":"Seminar\/Lecture\/Colloquium"}],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:john.mcdonald@biology.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJohn McDonald, PhD\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}