Modulating the therapeutic activity of nanoparticle delivered paclitaxel by manipulating the hydrophobicity of prodrug conjugates.

A series of paclitaxel prodrugs designed for formulation in lipophilic nanoparticles are described. The hydrophobicity of paclitaxel was increased by conjugating a succession of increasingly hydrophobic lipid anchors to the drug using succinate or diglycolate cross-linkers. The prodrugs were formulated in well defined block copolymer-stabilized nanoparticles.

Increased preclinical efficacy of irinotecan and floxuridine coencapsulated inside liposomes is associated with tumor delivery of synergistic drug ratios.

Whether anticancer drug combinations act synergistically or antagonistically often depends on the ratio of the agents being combined. We show here that combinations of irinotecan and floxuridine exhibit drug ratio-dependent cytotoxicity in a broad panel of tumor cell lines in vitro where a 1:1 molar ratio consistently provided synergy and avoided antagonism. In vivo delivery of irinotecan and floxuridine coencapsulated inside liposomes at the synergistic 1:1 molar ratio (referred to as CPX-1) lead to greatly enhanced efficacy compared to the two drugs administered as a saline-based cocktail in a number of human xenograft and murine tumor models.

Ratiometric dosing of anticancer drug combinations: controlling drug ratios after systemic administration regulates therapeutic activity in tumor-bearing mice.

Anticancer drug combinations can act synergistically or antagonistically against tumor cells in vitro depending on the ratios of the individual agents comprising the combination. The importance of drug ratios in vivo, however, has heretofore not been investigated, and combination chemotherapy treatment regimens continue to be developed based on the maximum tolerated dose of the individual agents. We systematically examined three different drug combinations representing a range of anticancer drug classes with distinct molecular mechanisms (irinotecan/floxuridine, cytarabine/daunorubicin, and cisplatin/daunorubicin) for drug ratio-dependent synergy.