Cancer treatments can vary widely depending on the type and the stage of the tumor. In many cases surgical resection of a well confined tumor is pursed, followed by chemical and/or physical treatments of the organ. Temperatures above 50 °C induce cell necrosis, denature enzymes, promote functional changes to DNA and RNA, and rupture the cellular membrane releasing cellular content, ultimately leading to cell injury and death. We are developing, in collaboration with the group of P. Pallavicini (Univ. Pavia), new anistropic gold nanoparticles to induce thermal release by irradiation with near infrared laser. In collaboration with G. Baldi (Cericol) we are instead developing iron oxide nanoparticles to be used in radiofrequency treatment of cancerous tissues. A third project, in collaboration both with Cericol and Unipv, is devoted to the development of a molecular thermometer to monitor the temperature in situ during the radiation treatments.

Fondazione Cariplo.

• University of Pavia, Dept. General Chemistry: P. Pallavicini;
• Cericol, Dr. G. Baldi.

Giuseppe Chirico; Stefano Freddi; Laura Sironi.

• Laura Sironi, Stefano Freddi,Michele Caccia,Paolo Pozzi,Leone Rossetti,Piersandro Pallavicini, Alice Donà,Elisa Cabrini,Maurizio Gualtieri,Ilaria Rivolta,Alice Panariti, Laura D’Alfonso, Maddalena Collini, Giuseppe Chirico. Gold Branched Nanoparticles for Cellular Treatments. J.Chem. Phys. C dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp305021k.
• Bacchetta R., Santo N., Fascio U., Moschini E., Freddi S., Chirico G., Camatini M. , Mantecca P. Nanotoxicology. Nano-sized CuO, TiO2 and ZnO affect Xenopus laevis development. doi:10.3109/17435390.2011.579634) 6: 381-398 , 2012.
• Bacchetta R, Tremolada P, Di Benedetto C, Santo N, Fascio U, Chirico G, Colombo A, Camatini M, Mantecca P. Does carbon nanopowder threat amphibian development? http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2012.05.047.
• P. Pallavicini, G. Chirico, M. Collini, G. Dacarro, A. Donà, L. D'Alfonso, A. Falqui, Y. Diaz-Fernandez, S. Freddi, B. Garofalo, A. Genovese, L. Sironi and A. Taglietti. Synthesis of branched Au nanoparticles with tunable near-infrared LSPR using a zwitterionic surfactant Chem. Commun. 47 (2011) 1315-1317.

• R. D'Antuono (now at IFOM, Milano), Innalzamento termico locale in nanoparticelle metalliche per terapia fototermica, 2011.
• D. Morone (now at Humanitas, Milano), Confronto tra terapia fototermica e magnetotermica con nanoparticelle metalliche, 2011.
• S. Russo, Internalizzazione di Solid Lipid Nanoparticles in eptihelial cells, 2010.

• S. Freddi, Gold Nanorods Characterization for Nanomedical Applications, 2011.
• L. Sironi, Nanoparticles for in-vitro and in-vivo biosensing and imaging, 2008.