Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's Nanotechnology Center, along with collaborators at Cornell University and Hybrid Silica Technologies, have received approval for their first Investigational New Drug Application (IND) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an ultrasmall silica inorganic nanoparticle platform for targeted molecular imaging of cancer.

Center researchers are about to launch their first-in-human clinical trial in melanoma patients using this first-of-its-kind inorganic nanoparticle. The purpose of this trial is to evaluate the distribution, tissue, uptake, and safety of the particles in humans by PET imaging. This study will provide data that will serve as a baseline to guide the design of future surgical and oncologic applications in the clinic. The work was funded in part by the Clinical and Translational Science Center, Weill Cornell Medical College, the Cornell Nanobiology Center, and the NIH Small-Animal Imaging Research Program (SAIRP).

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Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center