Irinotecan-Loaded Polymeric Micelles as a Promising Alternative to Enhance Antitumor Efficacy in Colorectal Cancer Therapy.

Colorectal cancer has been considered a worldwide public health problem since current treatments are often ineffective. Irinotecan is a frontline chemotherapeutic agent that has dose-limiting side effects that compromise its therapeutic potential. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a novel, targeted drug delivery system with high therapeutic efficacy and an improved safety profile.

Doxorubicin-loaded pH-sensitive micelles: A promising alternative to enhance antitumor activity and reduce toxicity.

Doxorubicin (DOX) is an anthracycline antibiotic widely used in the treatment of cancer, however, it is associated with the occurrence of adverse reactions that limits its clinical use. In this context, the encapsulation of DOX in micelles responsive to pH variations has shown to be a strategy for tumor delivery of the drug, with the potential to increase therapeutic efficacy and to reduce the toxic effects. In addition, radiolabeling nanoparticles with a radioactive isotope is of great use in preclinical studies, since it allows the in vivo monitoring of the nanostructure through the acquisition of quantitative images.

Influence of PEG coating on the biodistribution and tumor accumulation of pH-sensitive liposomes.

Liposomes are lipid vesicles widely used as nanocarriers in targeted drug delivery systems for therapeutic and/or diagnostic purposes. A strategy to prolong the blood circulation time of the liposomes includes the addition of a hydrophilic polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG) moiety onto the surface of the vesicle. Several studies claim that liposome PEGylation by a single chain length or a combination of PEG with different chain lengths may alter the liposomes' pharmacokinetic properties.

Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles: preparation, characterization, and evaluation of their potential use in bone targeting: an animal study.

Objective: Hydroxyapatite is used as a drug-delivery system for bone therapy applications because of its biocompatibility, bioactivity, and osteoconductive properties. In addition, hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HApN) might be used as a theranostic probe. The aim of this study was to prepare and characterize hydroxyapatite mesoporous nanoparticles, and radiolabel these nanoparticles with technetium-99m (Tc).