Liposomes Expand Cancer Drug's Bioavailability and Potency in Mouse Model

Encapsulation of the anticancer drug doxorubicin (doxo) within PEGylated liposomes increased the compound's intracranial tumor bioavailability, extended its lifetime in circulation, and improved the survival rate of mice bearing intercranial triple negative breast tumors.

Investigators at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, USA) sought to decrease the toxicity of doxo and increase the length of time it could circulate in the blood by enclosing the drug within PEGylated liposomes.


The investigators inoculated athymic mice intracerebrally with triple negative breast cancer cells that expressed the enzyme luciferase. They then treated some of the animals with doxo ecapslulated in PEGylated liposomes (PLD) or with free doxo (NonL-doxo). Efficacy of the treatment was assessed by survival of the animals and detection of bioluminescence.

Results published in the May 1, 2013, issue of the journal PLOS ONE revealed that treatment with PLD resulted in a 1,500-fold higher plasma and 20-fold higher intracranial tumor bioavailability compared with NonL-doxo. In addition, PLD was detected in plasma and intracranial tumors 96 hours following treatment compared to the drug being undetectable in plasma and tumors after 24 hours in the NonL-doxo animals. Survival rates for the PLD treated mice were significantly prolonged as compared NonL-doxo.

Related Links:

University of North Carolina