# Bionanotechnology   approach for treatment of lung cancer

> **NIH NIH R01** · RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIV OF N.J. · 2020 · $585,581

## Abstract

Project Title: Bio-nanotechnology approach for treatment of lung cancer
Project Summary
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma
(NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer, accounting for more than 80% of all lung cancer cases.
Chemotherapy is the primary pre-operative and post-operative treatment of NSCLC. However, the efficiency of
chemotherapy remains relatively low in most patients and is limited by insufficient specificity, low drug
accumulation, and retention in the lungs with severe adverse side effects of treatment. Recently, small
molecule Tyrosine Kinase (TK) inhibitors which act on the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptors (EGFRs) were
introduced for treatment of NSCLC. However, even the latest generation of EGFR inhibitors cause severe
systemic toxicities and are ineffective in preventing non-canonical EGFR signaling. As a result, only
approximately 10% of patients with NSCLC benefit from this therapy. In order to overcome these limitations, a
novel multi-tier biotechnology treatment approach is proposed that includes: (1) suppression of all four types of
EGFR-TKs by a pool of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs); (2) induction of cell death by an anticancer drug, (3)
enhancing the efficiency of the treatment by the local inhalatory delivery of therapeutic agents to the lungs
(passive targeting), (4) active receptor-mediated targeting of the therapy specifically to cancer cells and (5)
increasing the stability, solubility, and cellular penetration of siRNA and drug by using Nanostructured Lipid
Carriers (NLC). We hypothesize that the application of this nanotechnology-based tumor-targeted,
multifunctional approach will substantially enhance the efficiency of the treatment of NSCLC and
reduce adverse side effects of chemotherapy. The main objective of the current research is to test the
stated hypothesis and develop a novel nanoscale-based technology to carry out proof-of-concept of the
proposed strategy. The specific aims of the proposed research are: (1) to engineer, synthesize, and
characterize a multifunctional, multicomponent Delivery System (DS) containing NLC, a pool of siRNAs
targeted to EGFR-TKs, paclitaxel (TAX) as an anticancer drug, and a Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing
Hormone (LHRH) peptide as a targeting moiety specific to receptors overexpressed in lung cancer cells; (2) to
examine efficiency of active (LHRH receptor-mediated) and passive (local inhalation delivery) dual tumor
targeting of NLC-based DS; (3) to characterize the efficiency of combinatorial gene and chemotherapy for
silencing of EGFR-TK signaling pathways and cell death induction; (4) to evaluate in vivo antitumor activity and
adverse side effects of targeted and non-targeted NLC-based DS in clinically relevant orthotopic mouse
models of primary human NSCLC xenografts. It is expected that the proposed approach and the use of the
developed multifunctional NLC-based DS will substantially enhance the efficien...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9861229
- **Project number:** 5R01CA238871-02
- **Recipient organization:** RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIV OF N.J.
- **Principal Investigator:** Tamara Minko
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $585,581
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-02-04 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9861229

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9861229, Bionanotechnology   approach for treatment of lung cancer (5R01CA238871-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9861229. Licensed CC0.

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