Meeting

Public investment in nanotechnology for medicine continues to increase, and medical products based on nanotechnology are on the market. Several of the first FDA-approved uses of nanotechnology in medicine were for new formulations of standard chemotherapeutic agents to enhance delivery of the drugs to cancer cells. Nanotechnology has also been used to improve contrast materials for imaging. Nanotechnology holds promise for diagnostic tools and combination products such as theranostics. A great deal of research funding is currently being devoted to research in nanomedicine, providing ample opportunity for scientific advances and new products. Even so, there are substantial challenges to overcoming clinical research and translational science hurdles.

The goal of the workshop will be to address what nanomedicine is, what it can do, its potential risks and benefits, and the state of the art for standards and regulation, all with respect to nanomedicine in oncology. The primary audiences will be clinical researchers, clinicians, policy makers, and the public. The end product of the workshop will include a workshop summary published by the National Academies Press that will both educate the intended audience on the issues relevant to nanotechnology in oncology and provide an objective and scientifically grounded summary of perspectives about how this audience can contribute to the field.