Abstract 4514: Targeted liposomes to pancreatic cancer are effective in controlling the tumor load in mice.

Abstract

Abstract Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths. Targeted drug delivery to pancreas will increase the drug efficacy especially in inoperable tumors and reduce its toxicity. In this study we prepared targeted liposomes to SLC7A11 transporter which is upregulated in pancreatic cancers as our previous work has shown. The objective of our work was to evaluate the antitumor effect of targeted liposomes loaded with daunorubicin (DNR) in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer. Mice C57BL/6 were injected subcutaneously with 1x 106 PanO2 cells. When the tumors became palpable the mice were injected with different targeted or non targeted liposomal formulations of DNR. There were 5 groups: group A, saline; group B, free DNR; group C,DNR encapsulated in non-targeted liposomes; group D, DNR encapsulated in targeted liposomes; group E; DNR encapsulated in targeted liposomes with PEG. DNR dose was 5mg/kg once a week for the first two weeks. Another set of group of mice received a single dose. We measured the tumor size from the day of treatment until the animals were euthanized. On the day of autopsy, tumors were removed, sectioned and placed in a microscope to observe the DNR accumulation. Animals treated with targeted liposomes containing DNR had a significantly lower tumor load compared to those received DNR in nontargeted liposomes. The average body weight of animals that received free DNR shows a decrease which may be due to drug toxicity. Fluorescent images of tumor sections showed that the tumors treated with DNR in targeted liposomes had more fluorescence than tumors treated with free DNR or DNR encapsulated in nontargeted liposomes.The results indicate that DNR encapsulated in the targeted liposomes was more effective in reducing the tumor load compared to free DNR or DNR encapsulated in nontargeted liposomes. Citation Format: Lavanya Kondapalli, Maria P. Lambros, Ying Huang. Targeted liposomes to pancreatic cancer are effective in controlling the tumor load in mice. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4514. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4514