A developing method of cancer detection is to use electromagnetic waves to compare the dielectric properties of normal and cancerous tissue. Because most of the previous studies consisted of dielectric measurements taken ex-vivo, this study investigated the advantages of in-vivo measurements, obtained using the newly developed insertion-type planar probe, through the measurements of cancer (MDA MB 231), which was cultivated and implanted into the mammary fat pad of nude mice. Reflection coefficients were obtained in the broadband frequency range from 0.5 to 30 GHz, from which broadband complex permittivity data was extracted. Complex permittivity, in addition to other parameters such as conductivity and characteristic frequency, were used to make comparisons between cancerous tissue, normal muscle tissue and fat tissue, as well as comparisons between in-vivo and ex-vivo measurements. This study investigated the suitability of in-vivo cancer detection using microwaves with the newly developed insertion-type planar probe. Results showed that both sensitivity and specificity of the current method was 97%. In addition, predictive values were 99% for the positive and 94% for the negative, thus greatly enhancing the practicality of this method. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that in-vivo measurements are highly beneficial in studying the potential of microwaves as a diagnostic tool of breast cancer, especially in combination with the newly developed insertion-type planar probe.

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Although cyclodextrin (CD)-based renal-clearable nanocarriers have a high potential for clinical translation in targeted cancer therapy, their optimal designs for enhanced tumor retention and reduced off-target accumulation have rarely been proposed. Herein, we present a delicately tailored structure of a renal-clearable zwitterionic CD, hepatkis-(6-deoxy-6-((phenylboronic acid-tetraethyleneglycol-l-glutamic acid N α -sulfobetaine)-octaethyleneglycol-caproamide))-β-cyclodextrin (PBA-(ZW)-CD), for colorectal cancer (CRC)-selective drug delivery. Twenty CD derivatives with different charged moieties and spacers are synthesized and screened for colloidal stability. The resulting ve candidates are complexed with adamantyl sulfocyanine 7 and evaluated for biodistribution. PBA-(ZW)-CD, the optimized structure, displays a high tumor-to-background ratio of 3.7-4.1. PBA-(ZW)-CD inclusion complexes of doxorubicin and ulixertinib are fabricated, and their enhanced tumor accumulation (vs. free doxorubicin, 2.0-folds; vs. free ulixertinib, 2.1-folds), facilitated elimination (vs. free doxorubicin, 15.2 and 0.0% remaining in the heart and muscles, respectively; vs. free ulixertinib, 17.7 and 7.4% in the liver and kidneys, respectively), and tumor penetration comparable to those of free drugs are veri ed via mass-spectrometric quantitation and imaging. The improved antitumor e cacy of PBA-(ZW)-CD/drug combination therapy is demonstrated in heterotopic and orthotopic CRC models (vs. free drug combination, tumor size reduction by 52.0 and 76.2%, respectively), suggesting that PBA-(ZW)-CD can be used as a promising CRC-targeted nanoplatform.

− Growing interest in the nasal route as a drug delivery system calls for a reliable in vitro model which is crucial for efficiently evaluating drug transport through the nasal cells. Various in vitro cell culture systems has thus been developed to displace the ex vivo excised nasal tissue and in vivo animal models. Due to species difference, results from animal studies are not sufficient for estimating the drug absorption kinetics in humans. However, the difficulty in obtaining reliable human tissue source limits the use of primary culture of human nasal epithelial cells. This shortage of human nasal tissue has therefore prompted studies on the "passage" culture of nasal epithelial cells. A serially passaged primary human nasal epithelial cell monolayer system developed by the air-liquid interface (ALI) culture is known to promote the differentiation of cilia and mucin gene and maintain high TEER values. Recent studies on the in vitro nasal cell culture systems for drug transport studies are reviewed in this article.

Cholesteryl hemisuccinate (CHS)-conjugated chitosan (CS)-based self-assembled nanoparticles (NPs) were developed for enhancing the intracellular uptake of docetaxel in multidrug resistance (MDR)-acquired cancer cells. CHS-CS was successfully synthesized and self-aggregation, particle size, zeta potential, drug entrapment efficiency, and in vitro drug release of docetaxel-loaded CHS-CS NPs were tested. The optimized NPs had a mean hydrodynamic diameter of 303 nm, positive zeta potential of 21.3 mV, and spherical shape. The in vitro release of docetaxel from the optimized CHS-CS NPs in different pH medium (pH 6.0 and 7.4) revealed that the release was improved in a more acidic condition (pH 6.0), representing a tumor cell’s environment. The superior MDR-overcoming effect of docetaxel-loaded CHS-CS NPs, compared with docetaxel solution, was verified in anti-proliferation and cellular accumulation studies in MDR-acquired KBV20C cells. Thus, CHS-CS NPs could be potentially used for overcoming the MDR effect in anticancer drug delivery.