Exosomal drug formulations

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): More people in the U.S. (160,340 per year) die of lung cancer than of prostate, breast, and colon cancer combined. The most common type of lung cancer, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), accounts for 75% of all lung cancers. Regrettably, 85% of all patients diagnosed with NSCLC eventually die of the disease within 5 years, due to micro-metastasis and relapse. Currently, over 12 million cancer survivors reside in the U.S., of which only 3.3% (about 400,000) are lung cancer survivors. Improved methods in effective cancer treatment are urgently needed and could greatly benefit not only lung cancer survivors, but also those of other cancer types. This project will develop a platform technology for exosome formulations, using bovine-milk-derived exosomes, of both lipophilic and hydrophilic drugs. Specifically, we will prepare exosome formulations of a standard chemotherapeutic (chemo) drug, paclitaxel (PAC), and a natural compound with chemopreventive and therapeutic