Abstract
Combination chemotherapy is a routine treatment for esophageal cancer, but some shortcomings, such as drug toxicity and side effects, greatly limit the clinical application of combination therapy. To overcome these shortcomings, we have developed a mesoporous silica nanoparticle system that was used to load doxorubicin and β-elemene. β-elemene was encapsulated in the pore of mesoporous silica nanoparticle and doxorubicin was electrostatically adsorbed on the surface of mesoporous silica nanoparticle by hyaluronic acid to construct dual drugs synergistic nanoparticles (bMED NPs, ~77.15 nm). In vitro studies demonstrated that bMED NPs had a good treatment effect in esophageal cancer cell lines. In vivo fluorescence imaging results demonstrated that bMED NPs could accumulate in tumor sites and achieve in vivo long-term circulation and continuous drug release. In addition, bMED NPs exhibited significant antitumor effects in the esophageal cancer mouse model, which may provide a great platform for esophageal cancer chemotherapy.
Highlights
Esophageal cancer is the sixth leading cause of cancer deaths in the world [1]
Our previous studies have shown that β-elemene and DOX have a combination therapeutic effect
combination index (CI) analysis is a common method for assessing the drugs interactions in combination therapy
Summary
Esophageal cancer is the sixth leading cause of cancer deaths in the world [1]. The incidence is higher in East Asia, southeastern Africa and northwestern Europe. In China, esophageal cancer is one of the four major cancers [2]. Most cases of esophageal cancer are diagnosed at an advanced stage and the 5-year survival rate is very poor [3]. Surgery has a certain therapeutic effect in the clinic, surgery-caused damage is irreversible, and the patient quality of life is greatly reduced. Surgery may be followed by cancer recurrence and tumor metastasis [4, 5]. Combination chemotherapy is a common method for the treatment of esophageal cancer and when compared with single drug treatment, this approach has an obvious superiority [6]
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