# Project 1: Development of Mechanical Interventions to Enhance Drug Delivery to Bone Tumors

> **NIH NIH U54** · CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK · 2021 · $136,825

## Abstract

The objective of this study is to develop and validate clinically translatable mechanical interventions that can be
used to enhance drug delivery to cancerous bone tumors. In preliminary work, the City College of New York
(CCNY) and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) investigative team has demonstrated that
delivery of an intravenous drug can be significantly enhanced in mechanically loaded tumor-bearing rat tibiae.
Based on the promising preliminary results, this study will collect important pre-clinical data that will test two
different mechanical interventions in a rat model and then translate the results to develop a clinical protocol to
enhance drug delivery to bone tumors. Two different approaches of applying mechanical intervention will be
used to enhance tumor drug delivery in a rat model of metastatic bone cancer to assess their potential
applicability to human patients. Specific Aim 1 will simulate how exercise would be used in the clinic to
enhance drug delivery to bone tumors. Specific Aim 2 will utilize very low-magnitude mechanical vibration that
could also be delivered easily in a clinical setting. Specific Aim 3 will build upon the findings from the pre-
clinical rat studies to design a clinical IRB protocol that would target patients most likely to benefit from
mechanical intervention during cancer drug administration. The long-term goal of this work is to establish a
clinical treatment that uses load-bearing exercise or low-intensity vibration to enhance tumor delivery of
therapeutic drugs. This low-risk and easy-to-implement approach may enhance a drug's uptake and
therapeutic effect in the most clinically relevant skeletal areas while potentially decreasing systemic drug
dosage and unwanted side effects.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10260497
- **Project number:** 5U54CA132378-13
- **Recipient organization:** CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK
- **Principal Investigator:** SUSANNAH P. FRITTON
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $136,825
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2008-09-26 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10260497

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10260497, Project 1: Development of Mechanical Interventions to Enhance Drug Delivery to Bone Tumors (5U54CA132378-13). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10260497. Licensed CC0.

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