Figure 4. Differences in nanoparticle distribution within tumor tissue.

As compared to other nanoparticles that utilize a passive targeting mechanism (such as used by PLD), new nanoparticle formulations (‘Nano-P’) for chemotherapeutic agents potentially afford an active targeting of tumor cells to release a chemotherapeutic payload into individual cells. This increased payload to individual cells would provide increased drug associated to DNA, which can then be measured using the proposed method (along with traditional pharmacokinetic measurements in plasma and tissue matrices).