{"599697":{"#nid":"599697","#data":{"type":"news","title":"One Step Closer to the Clinic","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELast year, cancer biologist John McDonald made news with his lab\u0026rsquo;s development of a novel targeted therapy that eliminated ovarian tumors in limited, \u003Cem\u003Ein vivo\u003C\/em\u003E tests in mice.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen his team\u0026rsquo;s \u0026lsquo;nanohydrogel\u0026rsquo; delivered a payload of RNA to malignant cells, combined with standard chemotherapy, the results were dramatic, \u0026ldquo;the massive reduction or complete eradication of the tumor,\u0026rdquo; McDonald, a researcher with the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at the Georgia Institute of Technology, explained at the time.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEssentially, the new nanoparticle-based treatment makes chemotherapy more effective. It\u0026rsquo;s the kind of research with a successful track record that national funding agencies tend to support. That\u0026rsquo;s exactly what happened in November, when the National Cancer Institute\u0026rsquo;s Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory (NCL) gave McDonald\u0026rsquo;s lab a big boost in its research, which was accepted into the NCL\u0026rsquo;s quarterly Assay Cascade characterization and testing program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Getting one of these grants is highly competitive, and I was pleased to see we were one of only three academic institutions to get the award,\u0026rdquo; said McDonald, professor in the School of Biological Sciences, who heads Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Integrated Cancer Research Center. \u0026ldquo;Most of these awards typically go to start-up companies.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEach quarter the NCL accepts the most promising cancer nanomedicine candidates into the program. The nanomedicines then undergo a rigorous evaluation and testing, including \u003Cem\u003Ein vivo\u003C\/em\u003E studies to evaluate safety, efficacy, and pharmacokinetics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe other NCL awardees include researchers from Stanford University and the University of Utah, as well as the companies, EVOQ Therapeutics, Oncolmmune, Synergene Therapeutics, and ZY Therapeutics.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe treatment McDonald\u0026rsquo;s team developed targets epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs), which are found in the epithelial cells that line the body\u0026rsquo;s organs. EGFRs spark a variety of functions in healthy cells, but in cancer cells they are overproduced. As a result of this overexpression, many cellular functions, including cell replication and resistance to certain chemotherapy drugs, are cranked up. An overabundance of EGFRs found in biopsy typically means a bad prognosis for a cancer patient.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new nanoparticle therapy uses a minute gel pellet to deliver short interfering (si) RNA, combined with the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, reducing resistance to the medication and shrinking carcinomas or eliminating them completely. The goal is to use the same nanohydrogel with other kinds of RNA to treat different cancers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrent law requires more trials to show the treatment\u0026rsquo;s efficacy before researchers can move onto preliminary human trials. So, while the treatment is still years away from clinical use, the NCL assist through the characterization program helps bring it another step closer to the bedside.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The services they provide would amount to about $1 million if we had to out-source them,\u0026rdquo; McDonald said. \u0026ldquo;So this is a big advantage in moving forward to FDA approval for Phase 1 human trials.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"McDonald\u2019s cancer research gets a boost from Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMcDonald\u0026rsquo;s cancer research gets a boost from Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"McDonald\u2019s cancer research gets a boost from Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2017-12-08 13:42:10","changed_gmt":"2017-12-08 13:42:10","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-12-08T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2017-12-08T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"599696":{"id":"599696","type":"image","title":"McDonald Lab","body":null,"created":"1512740309","gmt_created":"2017-12-08 13:38:29","changed":"1512740309","gmt_changed":"2017-12-08 13:38:29","alt":"","file":{"fid":"228621","name":"original.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/original_6.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/original_6.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1294293,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/original_6.jpg?itok=1bWyek0T"}}},"media_ids":["599696"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"},{"id":"172669","name":"go-icrc-news"},{"id":"173581","name":"go-COS"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}