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Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent causes of cancer mortality in women. In order to increase patient prognosis and survival rates, new technologies are urgently required to deliver therapeutics in a more effective and efficient manner. Niosome nanoparticles have been recently employed as therapeutic platforms capable of loading and carrying drugs within their core for both mono and combination therapy. Here, niosome-based nanoscale carriers were investigated as a targeted delivery system for breast cancer therapy. The platform developed consists of niosomes loaded with letrozole and cyclophosphamide (NLC) and surface-functionalized with a folic-acid-targeting moiety (NLCPFA). Drug release from the formulated particles exhibited pH-sensitive properties in which the niosome showed low and high release in physiological and cancerous conditions, respectively. The results revealed a synergic effect in cytotoxicity by co-loading letrozole and cyclophosphamide with an efficacy increment in NLCPFA use in comparison with NLC. The NLCPFA resulted in the greatest drug internalization compared to the non-targeted formulation and the free drug. Additionally, downregulation of cyclin-D, cyclin-E, MMP-2, and MMP-9 and upregulating the expression of caspase-3 and caspase-9 genes were observed more prominently in the nanoformulation (particularly for NLCPFA) compared to the free drug. This exciting data indicated that niosome-based nanocarriers containing letrozole and cyclophosphamide with controlled release could be a promising platform for drug delivery with potential in breast cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoparticles have been shown to be effective drug carriers in cancer therapy. Pancreatic cancer forms dense tumours which are often resistant to drug molecules. In order to overcome such multidrug resistance, new drug entities, novel delivery systems and combination therapy strategies are being explored. In this paper, we report the design and synthesis of a poly(allylamine)-based amphiphile modified with hydrophobic naphthalimido pendant groups. Bisnaphthalimide compounds have been shown to possess anticancer activity. The potential of this polymer to encapsulate, solubilize and enhance drug (5-fluorouricil and bis-(naphthalimidopropyl)-diaminooctane) cytotoxicity in BxPC-3 cells was evaluated. Our studies showed that the insoluble drugs could be formulated up to 4.3 mg mL−1 and 2.4 mg mL−1 inside the amphiphiles, respectively. Additionally, the novel poly(allylamine)-naphthalimide carrier resulted in an amplification of cytotoxic effect with drug treatment after 24 h, and was capable of reduction of 50% cell population at concentrations as low as 3 μg mL−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoscale polymers systems have dominated the revolution of drug delivery advancement. Their potential in the fight against cancer is unrivalled with other technologies. Their functionality increase, targeting ability and stimuli responsive nature have led to a major boom in research focus. This review article concentrates on the use of these smart polymers in cancer therapy. Nanotechnologies have shown potential as drug carriers leading to increased drug efficacy and penetration. Multifunctional smart carriers which can release their payload upon an external or internal trigger such as pH or temperature are proving to be major frontrunners in the development of effective strategies to overcome this disease with minimal patient side effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver cancer treatments are often hindered by poor drug physicochemical properties, hence there is a need for improvement in order to increase patient survival and outlook. Combination therapies have been studied in order to evaluate whether increased overall efficacy can be achieved. This study reports the combined treatment of liver cancer cells with a combination treatment of chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel and pro-apoptotic protein cytochrome C. In order to administer both agents in a single formulation, a poly(allylamine)-based amphiphile has been fabricated with the incorporation of a hybrid iron oxide-gold nanoparticle into its structure. Here, the insoluble paclitaxel becomes incorporated into the hydrophobic core of the self-assemblies formed in an aqueous environment (256 nm), while the cytochrome C attaches irreversibly onto the hybrid nanoparticle surface via gold-thiol dative covalent binding. The self-assemblies were capable of solubilising up to 0.698 mg/mL of paclitaxel (700-fold improvement) with 0.012 mg/mL of cytochrome C also attached onto the hybrid iron oxide-gold nanoparticles (HNPs) within the hydrophobic core. The formulation was tested on a panel of liver cancer cells and cytotoxicity was measured. The findings suggested that indeed a significant improvement in combined therapy (33-fold) was observed when compared with free drug, which was double the enhancement observed after polymer encapsulation without the cytochrome C in hepatocellular carcinoma (Huh-7D12) cells. Most excitingly, the polymeric nanoparticles did result in improved cellular toxicity in human endothelian liver cancer (SK-hep1) cells, which proved completely resistant to the free drug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]