This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The rate of melanoma skin cancer is increasing yearly with 60000 new cases in 2007 in the US alone. Melanoma is highly curable if treated before it has spread from the primary site on the skin, but 5-year survival rates drop to only 29% once disease has spread to lymph nodes and fall even lower (down to 7%) if tumors metastasize to major organs. The goal of this proposal is to devetop and optimize a new drug-delivery and imaging platform for melanoma staging and treatment. Since melanomas naturally spread initially through local lymphatic channels and lymph nodes, this delivery and imaging system will specifically target the lymphatics. Using nanotechnology, hyaluronic acid, a compound naturally found in the body, is combined with drugs like melphalan normally used in regional therapy for melanoma, and delivered through the lymphatics. By lymphatic drug-delivery, the tumor is treated in a targeted manner, decreasing the amount of drug absorbed systemically which should result in a lower toxicity profile than the way it is currently administered. In addition to treating early melanoma through the lymphatics, this nanocarrier can be combined with gadolinium and imaged by MRI. Utilizing intralyrnphatic delivery for a contrast agent, this proposal will also explore novel ways to image lymphatically spread tumors such as melanoma. If successful, this research will result in an improved method for treating and imaging early to intermediate stage melanoma avoiding the morbidity of current treatment modalities and advancing the field of cancer imaging and therapeutics for lymphatically spread tumors.