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In this MD Newsline exclusive interview with cancer researcher Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green, Ph.D., we discuss Dr. Green’sย research on laser-activated nano-therapy in mice and its implications for cancer treatment in humans. We also discuss how the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation is working to fund her future clinical trials in humans.

MD Newsline:

Can you please share with us your research on laser-activated nano-therapy in mice and its implications for cancer treatment in humans? How is the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation working to fund your future clinical trials in humans?ย 

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Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green, Ph.D.:

“I would like for your community to know about the laser-activated nano-therapy that I’ve developed and the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation. So I’ve developed this breakthrough technology that’s the next generation of thermal therapies using laser-activated nanotechnology. The way this technology works is that I’m taking a near-infrared laser that has up to a 10-centimeter depth of penetration, and it’s a harmless diode laser that does not cause injury to healthy tissue.

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I fabricated a patent-pending design of my gold nanorods that are more uniform in shape and size than those that are commercially available. The innovative part of this technology is the plasmon resonance absorption that happens with the absorption wavelength of the nanoparticles and the admission wavelength of the laser. So, when the laser excites the nanoparticles, it causes rapid oscillations that happen so fast that the nanoparticles heat up and provide thermal injury to whatever they’re touching.

We’re able to deliver these nanoparticles through intratumoral injections where we can control the distribution of the nanorods and limit them to the site of the tumor. A two-factor verification of targeting happens because we know where we’re injecting the particles at the site of the tumor, and we’re also only shining the laser at the site of the tumor. So, you have to be wrong twice to have unintended injury outside of the tumor margins.

The exciting part about this technology is that this is a best-in-class demonstration of laser-activated nano-therapies. After one 10-minute treatment in mice, we’ve been able to consistently demonstrate complete tumor regression over 15 days, with no observable side effects, and without chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery.

We are currently using the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit that I started and named after my late aunt, who raised me and lost her battle to cancer. She inspired my journey to engage in cancer research. This foundation is a fundraising vehicle to raise the funds to cover the costs of human clinical trials for this technology. Our mission and our vision are to provide affordable, accessible, and effective cancer therapy for patients to reduce the suffering of patients with cancer worldwide.

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Our goal is to keep this technology affordable and accessible for all. I would like to invite each of you to consider adopting the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation as your cancer charity of choice.”

 

MD Newsline:

Which cancers will your laser-activated nano-therapy treat?

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Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green, Ph.D.:

“The laser-activated nano-therapy that I developed has indications for a variety of solid tumors, including breast, prostate, colorectal, skin, and brain cancers. So I’m excited about this research as a breakthrough technology, and we are hoping that this research will provide treatment options for patients who have difficult-to-treat tumors, especially for those patients with cancers like head and neck cancer, where they’re not viable candidates for surgery, and if you conduct surgery, they may not be able to swallow or speak afterward.

So we want to be able to target those very difficult to treat, possibly even chemotherapy-resistant and recurrent tumors. We are not looking to compete with the pharmaceutical industry for treating cancer with chemotherapeutic interventions. We are not looking to replace surgery. We are not looking to compete with anyone who currently has an effective intervention for patients with cancer.

We are simply looking to have an opportunity to try to save some of the nearly 9 million people a year who die from cancer around the world, sometimes because they simply cannot afford the modern treatments that are currently available.”

 

MD Newsline:

Is there anything else you would like to speak on that we have not already covered?ย 

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Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green, Ph.D.:

“I would like to thank MD Newsline for this opportunity to share the work of the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation, and our efforts to save lives and change the way cancer is treated. I really appreciate this opportunity, and I hope that each person who hears this interview will consider adopting the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation as your cancer charity of choice.”

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To help support the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation and Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green’s promising cancer research, please consider making aย donation. Thank you.ย 

 

Responses have been condensed and lightly edited.