A class of ultrasmall fluorescent core-shell silica nanoparticles developed at Cornell is showing an unexpected ability to rally the immune system against melanoma and dramatically improve the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy, according to a new study led by Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell Engineering researchers.
A class of ultrasmall fluorescent core-shell silica nanoparticles developed at Cornell is showing an unexpected ability to rally the immune system against melanoma and dramatically improve the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy, according to a new study led by Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell Engineering researchers.
The particles, known as Cornell prime dots, or C’dots, have already been tested in human clinical trials as a cancer diagnostic and a drug delivery system. Now, a study published Dec. 29 in Nature Nanotechnology reports that the nanoparticles themselves can reprogram the tumor microenvironment (TME), transforming immune-resistant tumors into ones that respond far better to treatment.
Dr. Michelle Bradbury, the Endowed Professor of Imaging Research in Radiology and a professor of radiology at Weill Cornell Medicine, led the study in collaboration with Ulrich Wiesner, the Spencer T. Olin Professor of Engineering in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Dr. Jedd Wolchok, the Meyer Director of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine, Taha Merghoub, the Meyer Cancer Center’s deputy director, and their laboratory provided critical insights regarding animal models and the tumor microenvironment.
Read More: Cornell University
