HfO2 nanoparticles as an emergent promising treatment for solid tumors

Summary

The enclosed abstract was presented at the 13th Journées cancéropole Grand Sud-Ouest at Poitiers. The abstract Hafnium oxide nanoparticles as an emergent promising treatment for solid tumors describes how hafnium oxide nanoparticles were designed at the nanoscale in the form of crystalline 50nm-particles to efficiently absorb ionizing radiation and increase the radiation dose deposited – “hot spots” of energy deposit – from within the tumor cells for efficient cell killing.

Hafnium oxide nanoparticles (NBTXR3), administered as a single intratumoral injection and activated by radiotherapy, is currently evaluated in a phase II/III clinical trial in soft tissue sarcoma (STS) [NCT02379845], and in phase I/II clinical trials for head and neck [NCT01946867], prostate [NCT02805894], liver [NCT02721056; NCT02721056] and rectum cancers [NCT02465593]. So far, patients treated with NBTXR3 received radiotherapy as planned and showed a very good local safety profile.