Abstract
Curcumin (Cum) has been reported to have potential chemo-preventive and chemotherapeutic activity through influencing various processes, inducing cell cycle arrest, differentiation and apoptosis in a series of cancers. However, the poor solubility of Cum limits its further applications in the treatment of cancer. We have previously reported Cum-loaded nanoparticles (Cum-NPs) prepared with amphilic methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-polycaprolactone (mPEG-PCL) block copolymers. The current study demonstrated superior antitumor efficacy of Cum-NPs over free Cum in the treatment of lung cancer. In vivo evaluation further demonstrated superior anticancer effects of Cum-NPs by delaying tumor growth compared to free Cum in an established A549 transplanted mice model. Moreover, Cum-NPs showed little toxicity to normal tissues including bone marrow, liver and kidney at a therapeutic dose. These results suggest that Cum-NPs are effective to inhibit the growth of human lung cancer with little toxicity to normal tissues, and could provide a clinically useful therapeutic regimen. They thus merit more research to evaluate the feasibility of clinical application.
Highlights
Lung cancer is a disease with poor overall survival. 5-year survival rate of patients with lung cancer of all stages is only 16% (Jemal et al, 2009; Rocks et al, 2012)
We have previously reported Cum-loaded nanoparticles (Cum-NPs) prepared with amphilic methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-polycaprolactone block copolymers
The current study demonstrated superior antitumor efficacy of Cum-NPs over free Cum in the treatment of lung cancer
Summary
Lung cancer is a disease with poor overall survival. 5-year survival rate of patients with lung cancer of all stages is only 16% (Jemal et al, 2009; Rocks et al, 2012). In vitro and in vivo experiments show the ability of Cum in inhibiting skin squamous cell carcinoma growth and blocking tumor progression (Phillips et al, 2011). The drug loaded content of Cum-NPs is more than 15% and the encapsulation efficiency is around 85%. The in vitro release test demonstrated the sustained release pattern of Cum-NPs at room temperature. In vitro cytotoxicity test showed that Cum-NPs inhibited the growth of A549 cells in a time and dose dependent manner. We hypothesize that Cum-NPs could have in vivo anticancer efficiency in a xenograft model of A549 cells. At the end of in vivo experiment, mice will be sacrificed to detect the influence of Cum-NPs on the peripheral blood parameters and liver and kidney functions
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