Alpha-particle emitting radionuclides are a promising class of emitters for the treatment of cancer. Emitted alpha-particles deposit considerable energy along a short-ranged trajectory (<100 µm), allowing the potential for highly localized and cytotoxic irradiation of cancer while sparing the surrounding healthy tissues from off-target effects. The majority of alpha-particle therapies under development are radioimmunoconjugates, which are effective in treating easily-accessible or volumetrically small target sites such as tumor vasculature, micrometastases, or liquid tumors such as leukemia. However, radiolabeled antibodies possess certain limitations such as low specific activity and potentially sub-optimal intracellular localization. Additionally, the limited penetration of solid tumor mass due to the binding site barrier effect combined with short alpha-particle trajectory effectively precludes the use of alpha-particle radioimmunoconjugates from effectively treating bulky solid tumors. To date, the use of liposome-mediated delivery of alpha-particle emitters to overcome these limitations has not been explored. In this dissertation, we describe delivery of the alpha-particle emitting radionuclide Actinium-225 (225Ac) mediated with liposomal nanoparticles. We investigate the anti-solid tumor potential of 225Ac-liposomes by evaluating its efficacy against analogues of tumor vasculature and avascular solid tumors. Overall, our results suggest the feasibility of a liposomal approach in the therapy of solid, vascularized tumors.
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Biomedical Engineering
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = RULIB)
ETD
Identifier
ETD_7832
PhysicalDescription
Form (authority = gmd)
electronic resource
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (viii, 82 p. : ill.)
Note (type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Liposomes
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Cancer--Treatment
Note (type = statement of responsibility)
by Charles Zhu
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = local)
rucore19991600001
Location
PhysicalLocation (authority = marcorg); (displayLabel = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
Rutgers University. Graduate School - New Brunswick
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Type
License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.