Alex Bagley and Sangeeta Bhatia
Laboratory for Multiscale Regenerative Technologies, Koch Institute
Epi-Fluorescence Micrograph

"Solid tumors often receive a very small percentage of toxic chemotherapies when these therapies are delivered intravenously. To enhance this delivery, we are using nanosized particles called gold nanorods. Gold nanorods accumulate in the tumors and when exposed to near infrared light, they generate heat locally inside the tumor. By altering the tumor's blood flow and vascular wall properties, localized gold nanorod heating can improve the delivery of therapeutic cargoes to their intended target. Here, a drug surrogate (green) is shown to reach many tumor vessels (red) in a clinical model of ovarian cancer receiving gold nanorod therapy."