Charalambos Kaittanis

Charalambos Kaittanis
About Charalambos Kaittanis

The poor solubility and bioavailability of many prostate cancer medicines forces physicians to prescribe higher doses to patients to obtain a clinical response. Targeted delivery of drugs to tumors could reduce patient side effects and drug costs.

Dr. Charalambos Kaittanis is studying iron oxide nanoparticles that can act as drug delivery vehicles. These “nanosponges” bind to drugs and release them only in the acidified environment of tumors. Nanosponges emit MRI signals that are selectively quenched by drug-binding, allowing imaging of nanosponge location upon drug deposition.

This project will develop the use of nanosponges as vehicles for individual and co-delivery of enzalutamide and several experimental drugs. Additional tumor imaging technologies will be integrated to measure drug response and resistance.

If successful, this project will develop iron oxide nanoparticles as targeted drug delivery vehicles for prostate cancer treatment and evaluate multiple drug combination activities.

What this means for patients: Dr. Kaittanis will develop nanoparticles as vehicles for the targeted delivery of individual drugs and drug combinations, which might reduce patient morbidity and medical costs, and help to overcome drug resistance.

Award

2014 David S. Blitzer-PCF Young Investigator

Charalambos Kaittanis, PhD

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Mentors

Jan Grimm, MD, PhD, Steven M. Larson, MD

Proposal Title

Overcoming Drug Resistance in Advanced Prostate Cancer with Multifunctional Nanosponges