Effective treatment of metastatic (stage IV) breast cancers remains a formidable challenge. To address this issue, a cell-penetrating peptide-assisted liposomal system was developed for codelivery of doxorubicin and andrographolide. This nanomedicine-based combination therapy showed the ability to inhibit the in vitro migration and invasion of 4T1 cells through the wound healing and transwell invasion assays. Furthermore, this delivery system exhibited the enhanced accumulation in the tumor tissues and deep intratumoral penetration. The synergistic effect of doxorubicin and andrographolide led to an evident inhibition of tumor growth in an orthotopic breast tumor mouse model and efficient prevention of lung metastasis. The therapeutic mechanism was associated with the anti-angiogenesis effect. In conclusion, this nanomedicine-based combination therapy provides a potential method for overcoming metastatic breast cancers.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.