Pandia: Gold Nanorods and Their Applications in Cancer Therapy and In Vivo Imaging in Companion Animals and Their Potential Application to Humans - Nanotechnology for Biomedical Imaging and Diagnostics - page 359

nanoparticles are localized is there a dramatic increase in temperature. In less than
5 min, the cancer tumor is ablated, leaving healthy tissue unaffected.
This method is significantly different than any other cancer procedure. Cancer
procedures currently rely on surgical removal, burning or freezing, radiation therapy,
chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and immunotherapy. These methods can result in
incomplete removal, reduced efficacy, scarring, and other deleterious side effects.
The value proposition for the customer is improved therapy and efficacy with reduced
side effects. These side effects, as well as long-term scarring associated with surgical
removal procedures, can potentially be avoided using the proposed technique.
Since Nanopartz is focused on being an R&d material supplier, it has become
its mission to spin off technologies to new entities. In this case, Nanopartz CRx,
Inc., was created to commercialize the Pandia ® system. Our prior work with mice
has shown significant therapeutic effects in both heating and ablation modes (refer
to Fig. 12.2). Subsequent to that work, we have completed normal dog toxicity
studies with gold injections of greater than 32 mg/kg with no signs of toxicity.
Recent publications ( 10 ) have shown that doses as low 8-16mg/kg have been
highly successful in mice.
AuNRs may also potentially be used in a method that avoids the necrotic remains
associated with the prior method of photodynamic therapy. Research has shown that
approximately 7% of the AuNRs injected end up in the solid tumor vasculature [16]. By
using a pulsed NIR laser in place of a continuous wave (CW) laser, we can rupture the
NRs disrupting the blood supply to the tumor, instead of heating the tumor. This offers
the potential to eliminate the necrotic mess normally associated with this technique.
The results of our scale-up success are significant because these further the current
understanding of kinetically controlled syntheses of anisotropic nanostructures and
provide a systematic study of highly unusual and yet unexplored colloidal crystallization
of rod-shaped particles . From the broader perspective, the development of large-scale
synthesis of AuNRs resolves the major issue of their accessibility, which is the main
bottleneck of their numerous applications in nanotechnology and nanomedicine and
advances our knowledge in self-organization phenomena that lead to anisotropic solids
composed of hard inorganic and soft organic components. This combination is analo-
gous to biomineralization products, and therefore, this research provides mechanistic
and structural insights into some natural processes. The hierarchical arrangement of
nanosized building blocks into microscopic colloidal crystals, which are organized in a
periodic array, provides a convenient platform for various photonic and optical applica-
tions including metamaterials, SeRS detection, and bioanalytical chemistry. The struc-
tures also represent an example of bottom-up assembly of materials with vectorial
plasmonic, electrical, and mechanical properties. The establishment of methods for the
preparation of anisotropic 3d colloidal crystals will be useful not only in the context of
materials chemistry but also to a wide variety of disciplines and can provide a model of
integration of nanoscale synthesis with self-assembly and microfabrication.
Consequently, we have developed a therapeutic regime that is noncytotoxic, may
be injected intravenously, seeks out cancer tumors using long circulation times, can
also be used for ultrasensitive imaging, and may be heated without surgery, thereby
destroying the cancer tumor.