Theranostic multimodal nanoparticles and lung MRI: a winning combination for lung cancer diagnostics and therapy?
Résumé
Rationale and Objectives: Gd-based nanoparticles (NP) have been shown to be, at the same time, efficient MRI positive contrast agent and radiosensitizers during tumor radiotherapy. In the case of lungs, as a result of motion, low tissue density and very short T2* values, the detection and the monitoring of tumor evolution remain challenging. Besides, the most appropriate administration route (intravenous versus intratracheal) of the theranostic NPs to the lung tumor tissues still need to be investigated. The aims of this study were: (i) to demonstrate the feasibility of MRI detection in lungs of orotracheally administrated nanoparticles, (ii) to determine the pharmacokinetics of instilled NPs and to establish a robust model for measuring the absolute concentration of NPs in lung tissue, (iii) to assess in vivo the passive targeting of lung tumours using intravenous (IV) and intratracheal (IT) administration of NPs.