Layered nanoparticles deliver RNA, chemo for one-two punch

Researchers at the Koch Institute of Integrative Cancer Research at MIT have developed layered nanoparticles with the cancer drug doxorubicin at the core, a second layer of gene-silencing interfering RNA and a final outer layer coated with tumor-targeting antigens. The compound, designed to treat drug-resistant triple-negative breast cancer, locates cancer cells, knocks down their drug-resistant pathways and increases the effectiveness of the cancer-killing core. According to an abstract published in the journal ACSNano, the nanoparticle method enhanced doxorubicin efficacy fourfold in mice. Abstract | ACS report