Research Projects
Nanotechnology in Cancer Research
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Cheryl Baker and J Colon - M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Orlando and UCF
The efficacy of cancer radiotherapy is limited by normal-tissue injury included in the radiation field. Although the use of precise radiation field sizes and accurate dose planning minimize the unwanted side effects of radiotherapy, the side effects (such as severe fibrosis) still occur in a large percentage of cancer patients. The undesirable side effects (developing up to months or years after radiotherapy) may be too severe as to compromise optimal radiation dose delivery or to significantly reduce the quality of life of treated cancer patients. The pathogenesis of radiation-induced normal-tissue injury involves many mechanisms ranging from early molecular signaling in cells exposed to radiation to tissue remodeling; however, the unrepaired radiation-induced DNA damage in affected cells constitutes the primary molecular basis for this injury. Complex DNA damage caused by radiation induces cellular differentiation in fibroblasts and apoptotic cell death in endothelial cells. Selective or preferential protection of normal tissues is an attractive and potential approach to improve radiotherapy. Currently, we are investigating a new approach in radioprotection by using nanotechnology. It is highly believed that nanotechnology can provide a tool to intervene with biological functions that may enhance the treatment of challenging diseases such as cancer.
The undergraduate students will be involved in:
- Cultivation of human cancer cells
- Making novel nanoparticles
- Use of orthotopic animal cancer models
- Treatment of human cancer (in vitro and in vivo) with radiation and nanotechnology
- Live-animal imaging to determine whether novel treatment strategies slow the growth and metastasis of human cancer