Speaker Biography

Farid Menaa

Fluorotronics Inc., USA

Title: Therapeutic Advances in Adreno-Cortical Carcinoma: Effects of pure and active S-(-)-mitotane encapsulated into lipid nanocarriers

Farid Menaa
Biography:

Dr. Farid Menaa is an inter- and multi-disciplinary professional with worldwide reputation. He has three international post-doctoral terms in Oncology, Dermatology, and Hematology; MBA Entrepreneurship and MD candidate. During his ongoing career, he has mainly contributed to the identification and functions of new human disease-causing genes and variants, formulated natural products for anti-aging and developed innovative theranostic strategies against cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity and infectious diseases. He has more than 10 years’ experiences either in the academic, hospitals or industrial sectors. As Chief Scientific Officer and Vice-President R&D at Fluorotronics, Inc. he actively participated in the development of the disruptive “Carbon-Fluorine Spectroscopy”. Dr. Menaa collaborates with various organizations worldwide. He is a member of several prestigious medical and scientific organizations and editorial boards in the field of medicine, science, technology and business, including in the nano-segment. He has authored more than 100 articles including research and review articles, books, book chapters, textbooks, proceedings, and has participated to over 200 scientific international events including as co-organizer, keynote speaker, chairman. Dr. Menaa’s worldwide collaborations, holistic point of view and strong expertise in various fields led him to prevent, implement early diagnosis, and develop efficient and safer therapy.

Abstract:

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare but aggressive malignancy with a poor prognosis. Treatment options for advanced ACC are limited. Indeed, radical tumor resection can lead to local or metastatic recurrence, and mitotane (Lysodren(®)), the only recognized adrenolytic drug, offers modest response rates, notably due to some of its physico-chemical and pharmacological properties (i.e. hydrophobicity, low bioavailability). Meantime, high cumulative doses of Lysodren(®) usually cause systemic toxicities. To reduce adverse health effects, the search of safe and efficient mitotane nano-formulations as well as the full characterization and testing of its enantiomers can represent valuable therapeutic options.

Interestingly, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) could considerably improve the efficacy of mitotane (i.e. enhanced solubility and bioavailability, progressive release of the loaded drug into blood and targeted tissues) as well as its safety (i.e. lower toxicity, higher biocompatibility). These two nano-carriers for mitotane delivery and targeting are of particular interest over other polymeric particles (i.e. low-cost, efficient and simple scaling to an industrial production level following green methods).

We will show that pure and active S-(-)- mitotane is more potent than pure R-(+)-mitotane for ACC treatment, and might offer synergic or additive benefits in vivo when adequately combined to well-prepared and characterized solid lipid-based nanocarriers.

 

Keywords:  Adreno-Cortical Carcinoma (ACC); solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC); Nanomedicine; Mitotane; Enantiomers; Cancer Therapy.