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Show COLLEGE OF PHARMACY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS PLASMONIC PHOTO-THERMAL THERAPY-ASSISTED POLYMER THERAPEUTICS IN THE TREATMENT OF PROSTATE TUMORS Afsheen Banisadr (Hamidreza Ghandeharia, Adam Gormleya) Department of Bioengineering, Center for Nanomedicine, Nano Institute of Utah, and Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry University of Utah The treatment of cancer is very difficult due to the inherent nature of the disease, as well as the available treatment options. The most difficult complication associated with this disease is that cancer is a part of the organism that it affects. As a result, treatment of the cancer affects the host organism, i.e. treatment kills both the host and the cancer cells, while doctors hope that the cancer cells die before the patient. Additionally, the intrinsic hydrophobic properties of the chemotherapeutic treatments being used prevents a homogeneous biodistribution of the drug in the body. The treatment often results in damage and chronic conditions that will affect the patient later in life. These effects are especially prevalent when dealing with prostate cancer, due to the function that the prostate serves in the male renal and reproductive tract. Most adverse effects associated with prostate cancer include long term urinary and bowel incontinence, as well as sexual dysfunction. In the battle against prostate cancer the Ghandehari research group has formulated a series of technologies that can be utilized in parallel to increase the efficacy, specificity, and penetration of the chemotherapeutics to the tumor site. Our group previously demonstrated that gold nanorod (GNR) mediated plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPTT) is capable of increasing the overall accumulation of N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacryl-amide (HPMA) copolymers in prostate tumors [1]. For our current study, w e have demonstrated that PPTT is also capable of increasing the distribution of these conjugates in tumors. H P M A copolymers were synthesized in combination with an aminopropylmethacrylamide-benzyl-1,4,7,10 tetraazacy-clododecane- 1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (APMA-benzyl-DOTA)MRI chelating agents, and 5-[3-(methacry-loylaminopropyl) thioureidyl] fluorescein (APMA-FITC) fluorescent marker, and an 3-[(N-methacryloyl-glycyl) glycyl]thiazolidine-2-thione (MA-GG-TT) targeting ligand attachment points. Gold nanorods were also synthesized and the size was adjusted in order to maximize the effect of the PPTT. These products were then used to treat prostate tumors in mice and showed promising effects in tumor penetration in comparison to control tumors. Refrences: [1] A. J. Gormley, N. Larson, A. Banisadr, R. Robinson, N. Frazier, A. Ray, and H. Ghandehari, "Plasmonic photo-thermal therapy increases the tumor mass penetration of H P M A copolymers.," Journal of Controlled Release: vol. 166, no. 2, pp. 130-138, Dec. 2012. 'Present address: Department of Materials, Imperial College London, London, S W 7 2BP, United Kingdom. Afsheen Banisadr Hamidreza Ghandeharia 57 |