Yong Teng

Title : The strategies and promise of nanoparticle based target therapeutics in head and neck cancer

Abstract:

Head and neck cancer (HNC) represents an aggressive and heterogenous group of cancers whose pathologies remain largely unresolved. Despite recent advances in HNC therapeutic strategies, the overall survival of HNC patients remains poor and continues to prompt efforts to develop more effective therapies. Physicochemical and pharmacokinetic profiles of anticancer drugs render optimal delivery challenging. Moreover, distribution, biotransformation, and clearance of anticancer drugs in the body must be overcome to deliver therapeutic agents to tumor cells in vivo. Nanoparticles (NPs) have shown promise as both drug delivery vehicles and direct anticancer systems, based on the quantum properties and the ability to carry and absorption. Our team has developed multifunctional NPs for selective release of targeted therapeutics, such as Src inhibitor saracatinib and AKT inhibitor capivasertib, into head and neck tumor cells. We also developed dual drug-loaded NPs to co-deliver saracatinib and AKT inhibitor capivasertib into the same population of tumor cells. The antitumor efficacy of these drug-loaded NPs was evaluated in in vitro and ex vivo 3D cell cultures and in orthotopic mice of HNSC. Our studies demonstrate that nanoparticle-based target therapeutics have superior anticancer effects than the free drug through suppressing HNC development and metastasis more efficiently. These tumor site-specific delivery of drug-loaded NPs would be straightforwardly extended from HNC to other types of solid tumors.

Audience Take Away:

• We will introduce recent advances in the field of nanoparticle-mediated targeted therapeutics for head and neck cancer, with an emphasis on the targeting points. We will also show tremendous potential of nanoparticle-based target therapeutics to fulfill the need for viable alternative cancer therapies, and encourage audience to further study higher-specificity tumor targets and more efficient nano-carriers.

Biography:

Dr. Yong Teng, PhD, is an associate professor of the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University, USA. He is the inaugural recipient of the Wally Award from Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and a fellow of IAAM and VEBLEO. He is an active member of the International Head and Neck Scientific Group, the Royal Society of Medicine, American Association for Cancer Research, and other associations. One of his research interests lies in nanotechnology in cancer research and treatment. He has extensive experience in conducting investigator-initiated clinical trials and translational research. His team has authored over 100 articles and book chapters relating to cancer biology, nanotechnology, and nano-based drug delivery and genome editing, providing a balanced mix of basic and translational science to shed new light on cancer management and research. Dr. Teng has received several research awards from National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, the industry, and other fund agencies. He also serves on a number of grant review panels, journal editorial boards, and international conference committees, demonstrating his exceptional commitment to serving the scientific community.