(Phys.org)—One of the main reasons that nanoparticles can boost the effectiveness of an anticancer drug while decreasing its toxicity is that they are able to accumulate at cancerous sites in the body through the abnormally leaky blood vessels that surround most solid tumors. While enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) phenomenon is effective, it is inefficient and the vast majority of an injected dose of nanoparticle-entrapped drug is excreted from the body without ever reaching its intended target. Now, however, a team of investigators from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has found a way of markedly enhancing the EPR effect and boosting nanoparticle accumulation in tumors by more than 20 fold.
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