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A ceramic-based anticancer drug delivery system to treat breast cancer

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Abstract

Drug delivery systems offer the advantage of sustained targeted release with minimal side effect. In the present study, the therapeutic efficacy of a porous silica–calcium phosphate nanocomposite (SCPC) as a new delivery system for 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. In vitro studies showed that two formulations; SCPC50/5-FU and SCPC75/5-FU hybrids were very cytotoxic for 4T1 mammary tumor cells. In contrast, control SCPCs without drug did not show any measurable toxic effect. Release kinetics studies showed that SCPC75/5-FU hybrid provided a burst release of 5-FU in the first 24 h followed by a sustained release of a therapeutic dose (30.7 μg/day) of the drug for up to 32 days. Moreover, subcutaneous implantation of SCPC75/5-FU hybrid disk in an immunocompetent murine model of breast cancer stopped 4T1 tumor growth. Blood analyses showed comparable concentrations of Ca, P and Si in animals implanted with or without SCPC75 disks. These results strongly suggest that SCPC/5-FU hybrids can provide an effective treatment for solid tumors with minimal side effects.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of UNC Charlotte through a research grant (AE and DD) and of the vivarium personnel for animal care.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science, DCH 177, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC, 28223, USA

    Ahmed El-Ghannam & Kumar Vedantham

  2. Cellular and Molecular Biology Division, Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, 28223, USA

    Krista Ricci, Heather Wyan, Lauren D. Allen & Didier Dréau

  3. Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, University of Kentucky, 740 South Limestone Street, Lexington, KY, 40536-0001, USA

    Ahmed Malkawi

  4. Department of Medicine, Medical School, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40292, USA

    Kiarash Jahed

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  1. Ahmed El-Ghannam
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  2. Krista Ricci
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Correspondence to Ahmed El-Ghannam.

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El-Ghannam, A., Ricci, K., Malkawi, A. et al. A ceramic-based anticancer drug delivery system to treat breast cancer. J Mater Sci: Mater Med 21, 2701–2710 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-010-4121-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-010-4121-6

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