Biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of a telodendrimer micellar paclitaxel nanoformulation in a mouse xenograft model of ovarian cancer.

Background: A multifunctional telodendrimer-based micelle system was characterized for delivery of imaging and chemotherapy agents to mouse tumor xenografts. Previous optical imaging studies demonstrated qualitatively that these classes of nanoparticles, called nanomicelles, preferentially accumulate at tumor sites in mice. The research reported herein describes the detailed quantitative imaging and biodistribution profiling of nanomicelles loaded with a cargo of paclitaxel.