Cavitation-enhanced delivery of therapeutics to solid tumors

Thesis

Poor drug penetration through tumor tissue has emerged as a fundamental obstacle to cancer therapy. The solid tumor microenvironment presents several physiological abnormalities which reduce the uptake of intravenously administered therapeutics, including leaky, irregularly spaced blood vessels, and a pressure gradient which resists transport of therapeutics from the bloodstream into the tumor. Because of these factors, a systemically administered anti-cancer agent is unlikely to reach 100...

Expand abstract

Authors: Rifai, B

• Publication date: 2011
• DOI: 10.5287/ora-j0v41dam5
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: tumor microenvironment; virotherapy; macromolecule transport; Reynolds averaging; monitoring; biomedical acoustics; tumor phantom; oncolytic adenovirus; drug delivery; fluid dynamics; ultrasound therapy; cavitation
• Subjects: Image understanding; Mathematical modeling (engineering); Mechanical engineering; Biomedical engineering; Numerical analysis; Physics and CS; Medical Engineering