Nanoparticles (NPs) for targeted therapy are required to have appropriate size, stability, drug loading and release profiles, and efficient targeting ligands. However, many of the existing NPs such as albumin, liposomes, polymers, gold NPs, etc. encounter size limit, toxicity and stability issues when loaded with drugs, fluorophores, and targeting ligands. Furthermore, antibodies are bulky and ...

Abnormal vascularization of solid tumours results in the development of microenvironments deprived of oxygen and nutrients that harbour slowly growing and metabolically stressed cells. Such cells display enhanced resistance to standard chemotherapeutic agents and repopulate tumours after therapy. Here we identify the small molecule VLX600 as a drug that is preferentially active against quiescen...

Adoptive cell transfer utilizing tumour-targeting cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) is one of the most effective immunotherapies against haematological malignancies, but significant clinical success has not yet been achieved in solid tumours due in part to the strong immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment. Here, we show that suppression of CTL killing by CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cell (Treg)...

While some types of cancer remain localised for many years or virtually never spread to other organs, others can be regarded as a systemic disease at the time the patient first becomes aware of the primary tumour. While localised tumours can be dealt with by surgeons with increasingly successful results, tumours which have spread (metastasised) to other organs are often impossible to remove and...

micropapillary variant of urothelial carcinoma (uc) of the bladder is an aggressive tumour, comprising 0.6-6% of all uc. it generally presents with high-grade and stage, and has been reported as having a worse prognosis when compared to traditional uc. we report the case of a 58-year-old man who presented with macroscopic haematuria. the patient was diagnosed with high-grade urothelial carcinom...

Analysis of gene expression patterns in normal tissues and their perturbations in tumours can help to identify the functional roles of oncogenes or tumour suppressors and identify potential new therapeutic targets. Here, gene expression correlation networks were derived from 92 normal human lung samples and patient-matched adenocarcinomas. The networks from normal lung show that NKX2-1 is linke...

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone tumour. Increasing evidence has demonstrated the pathogenic role of microRNA (miRNAs) dysregulation in tumour development. miR-379 was previously reported to function as an oncogenic or tumour-suppressing miRNA in a tissue-dependent manner. However, its function in osteosarcoma remains unknown. In this study, we found that the expression of miR-379 w...

Radioresistance/Gene delivery/HRE/GDEPT/Bioreductive drugs Studies have shown that reduced oxygen tension (hypoxia) in solid tumours adversely affects the outcome of radiotherapy. Despite being an independent prognostic marker of poor treatment outcome, hypoxia represents a physiological difference that can be utilised for selective cancer treatment. Since severe hypoxia (pO2< 0.3%; 2.5 mmHg) d...

Nanomaterials are used for numerous biomedical applications, but the selection of optimal properties for maximum delivery remains challenging. Thus, there is a significant interest in elucidating the nano-bio interactions underlying tissue accumulation. To date, researchers have relied on cell culture or animal models to study nano-bio interactions. However, cell cultures lack the complexity of...

Pancreatic cancer has been identified as one of the deadliest malignancies because it remains asymptomatic and usually presents in advanced stage. Tumour immune evasion is a well-known mechanism tumorigenesis various forms human malignancies. Chronic inflammation via complex networking inflammatory cytokines local tissue microenvironment dysregulates system support tumour development. Pro-infla...