Theranostic Imaging of Metastatic Disease

Zhihang Chen¹, Marie-France Penet¹, Sridhar Nimmagadda¹, Cong Li¹, Sangeeta Ray¹, Paul Winnard¹, Dmitri Artemov¹, Kristine Glunde¹, Martin G. Pomper¹, Zaver M. Bhujwalla¹

There is a compelling need to find effective treatments for metastatic disease, as it typically becomes refractory to treatment. We are developing targeted nanoplexes carrying multimodality imaging reporters together with small interfering RNA (siRNA) and a prodrug enzyme for theranostic imaging of metastatic prostate cancer. Down-regulation of specific pathways using siRNA provides unique opportunities to target cancer cells selectively while sparing normal tissue. The targeted nanoplexes we develop will allow us to deliver siRNA together with a prodrug enzyme, under image guidance for developing theranostic imaging of metastatic prostate cancer.