Tumor selective uptake of drug-nanodiamond complexes improves therapeutic outcome in pancreatic cancer.

ABSTRACT: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths and novel treatment approaches are urgently needed. Here we show that poly(ethylene glycol)-functionalized nanodiamonds loaded with doxorubicin (ND-PEG-DOX) afforded a considerable improvement over free drug in an orthotopic pancreatic xenograft model. ND-PEG-DOX complexes were also superior to free DOX in 3-dimensional (3D) tumor spheroids of PDAC. ND-PEG showed no cytotoxicity towards macrophages, and histopathological analysis showed no abnormalities of major organs upon in vivo administration of ND-PEG-DOX. These results provide evidence that ND-mediated drug delivery may serve as a means of improving the therapeutic outcome in PDAC.

SUBMITTER: Madamsetty VS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6588439 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature