Aim: Particle Replication in Nonwetting Templates (PRINT ® ) PLGA nanoparticles of docetaxel and acid-labile C2-dimethyl-Si-Docetaxel were evaluated with small molecule docetaxel as treatments for non-small-cell lung cancer brain metastases. Materials & methods: Pharmacokinetics, survival, tumor growth and mice weight change were efficacy measures against intracranial A549 tumors in nude mice. Treatments were administered by intravenous injection. Results: Intracranial tumor concentrations of PRINT-docetaxel and PRINT-C2-docetaxel were 13-and sevenfold greater, respectively, than SM-docetaxel. C2-docetaxel conversion to docetaxel was threefold higher in intracranial tumor as compared with nontumor tissues. PRINT-C2-docetaxel increased median survival by 35% with less toxicity as compared with other treatments. Conclusion: The decreased toxicity of the PRINT-C2-docetaxel improved treatment efficacy against non-small-cell lung cancer brain metastasis.
PLGA nanoparticleLung cancer, 80% comprised of non-smallcell lung cancer (NSCLC), is one of the leading causes of cancer worldwide and the USA [1][2][3]. Lung cancer is the most common primary tumor responsible for brain metastases [19]. Among those diagnosed with NSCLC, 20-50% of patients will develop metastatic brain disease [2], 10% with brain metastases at initial diagnosis [4] and another 30% later in their disease course following standard therapies.Despite multimodality therapy with combinations of surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy, median survival remains less than one year for NSCLC brain metastatic patients [1,2]. NSCLC brain metastases are generally nonresponsive to first-line, single agent platinum-based chemotherapy [2,5]. Docetaxel (Taxotere ® ) is a standard second line systemic chemotherapy for NSCLC brain metastases [2]. As brain metastasis recurrence is common among patients with advanced NSCLC, optimizing the passage of anticancer agents across the blood-brain barrier, increasing chemotherapeutic concentrations in intracranial and extracranial tumors and decreasing systemic toxicities are important considerations to improve treatment of this disease. Newer delivery techniques, like nanoparticles and carrier-mediated technologies, have illustrated these advantages in the setting of intracranial cancer [6][7][8][9][10]. Clinically, activity of nanoparticle-based systemic therapy has been illustrated in the setting of breast cancer brain metastases, another solid tumor type where brain metastasis recurrence is common [11].While several studies have shown the superiority of nanoparticle anticancer agents in intracranial malignancies over standard formulations, the mechanism underlying this