Advanced hybrid theranostic nanoplatforms for an active drug delivery in the cancer treatment
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Great efforts are still necessary to individuate new therapeutic strategies aimed to reduce cancer recurrence and to define new potential adjuvant targets for inhibiting invasion and metastasis, two significant contributors to death among patients. The combination therapy based on the simultaneous administration of two or more pharmacologically active agents with different modes of action using nanocarriers for the delivery could represent an effective strategy for the treatment. The increase in efficacy of a therapeutic formulation is causally related to its ability to selectively target diseased tissue, overcome biological barriers, and smartly respond to the disease environment to release therapeutic agents. The increasing interest in the employment of nanostructured materials to medicine-related branches is attributable to its unique properties allowing highly efficient drug delivery, molecular sensing applicable in diagnosis, multiplex imaging, or construction of point of care therapeutic devices. This project aims at an establishment of a consortium consisted of Regional centre of advanced technologies and materials (part of Palacký University), The Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics (part of CNR) and Maynooth University which will through a set of workshops, seminars and extensive exchange of early-stage researchers develop an efficient scientific cluster. The research of the cluster will aim the development of functional 3D dual-modality nanostructures for targeted drug delivery and cell imaging.