Doxorubicin- and cisplatin-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers for breast cancer combination chemotherapy.
Combination anticancer therapy is promising to generate synergistic anticancer effects, to maximize the treatment effect and to overcome multi-drug resistance. Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs), composed of solid and liquid lipids, and surfactants are potentially good colloidal drug carriers. The aim of this study is to construct novel NLCs as nanocarriers for co-delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) and cisplatin (CDDP) to treat breast cancer. DOX and CDDP loaded NLCs (D-C-NLCs) were prepared by the solvent diffusion method. The in vitro cytotoxicity and synergistic studies of different formulations were evaluated on human breast cancer cells (doxorubicin resistant) (MCF-7/ADR cells). In vivo anti-tumor effects were observed on the murine bearing MCF-7/ADR cells model. D-C-NLCs showed the highest cytotoxicity and synergistic effect of two drugs in tumor cells in vitro. The in vivo study revealed the greatest anti-tumor activity than the other formulations in the breast cancer model. The constructed NLCs could be used as a novel carrier for co-delivery of DOX and CDDP for breast cancer therapy. D-C-NLCs could be a promising targeted and combinational therapy nanomedicine.