The European-funded PHIRE project, coordinated by San Raffaele Hospital in Milan (Italy), has tested the efficacy and safety of “gold nanorods” to identify and treat, in a single treatment, bladder tumours smaller than 1 millimetre, which have previously been invisible and responsible for relapses.
Over half a million new diagnoses of bladder cancer occur each year. This type of cancer is not only the tenth most common in the world but is also one of the most difficult to treat due to therapy resistance and the presence of so-called “residual disease.” Current diagnostic imaging techniques are unable to detect tumours smaller than 1 millimetre, especially when they are flat, making them extremely difficult to remove. Each year, due to these diagnostic and therapeutic limitations, approximately 200,000 patients experience a tumour relapse, forcing them to undergo multiple long and painful treatment paths or, in the worst cases, have their bladder removed. These procedures cost the global health system approximately €9.5 billion a year.
The use of gold nanorods
The PHIRE group of researchers’ latest results led to the publication of the study “Gold nanorods- assisted theranostic solution for non-visible residual disease in bladder cancer” in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal. The research demonstrates the efficacy and safety, in preclinical models, of using gold nanoparticles to diagnose and treat bladder tumours smaller than 1 millimetre, promising to minimise “residual disease” and eliminate the problem of therapy resistance.
Future perspectives
PHIRE’s objective is to bring gold nanorods to the market, for which the IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele shares the patent with the University of Bologna, for the identification and treatment of bladder tumour lesions smaller than 1 millimetre.
“Our research and development project, of which this study presents excellent results, is now looking for industrial and/or financial partners to see this new technology realised and applied, which, we are sure, will be able to make a difference and guarantee the well-being of many patients,” continues Dr. Alfano. The PHIRE project is thus pursuing its translational mission, that is, transforming the most promising research results into tangible treatments for patients.
“The revolutionary potential of this innovative technology could change the treatment guidelines for bladder cancer. We are confident that the solution identified for residual disease in bladder cancer can also be applied to other forms of neoplasia. The tumour marker recognised by our gold nanorods is also expressed by ovarian and cervical tumours,” concludes Professor Andrea Salonia.
About PHIRE
Health programs crave for diagnostic imaging and eradication of chemoresistant neoplastic lesions smaller than 1 mm of size. PHIRE aims at bringing closer to market a novel high-resolution theranostic solution effective in clinical applications and ready for use in human bladder cancer. Both male and female patients should benefit from this. Starting in September 2023, the PHIRE project will run for 3 years, funded by the Horizon Europe programme, under GA No. 101113193.
PHIRE partners
The PHIRE consortium coordinated by San Raffaele Hospital (Milan, IT) is composed by interdisciplinary partners. Among them are the public University of Bologna (IT), the small- medium enterprise Ascend Technologies LTD (UK), the company META Group (BE), and the industrial partner Fujifilm Visualsonics (NL).
Website
Gold nanorod–assisted theranostic solution for nonvisible residual disease in bladder cancer paper, PNAS https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2411583121
Contact
Massimo Alfano | Project and Scientific Coordinator | Ospedale San Raffaele (Milan, IT) | massimo.alfano@hsr.it
Clémence Contant | Media relations | META Group (Brussels, BE) | c.contant@meta-group.com
