Tumor metastasis is the most dangerous
stage in tumorigenesis and
its evolution, which causes about 80% clinical death. However, common
therapies including chemotherapy may increase the risk of tumor metastasis
while killing cancer cells. Tumor metastasis is closely related to
many factors in the tumor microenvironment, especially hypoxia. As
one of the characteristics of a malignant tumor microenvironment,
hypoxia plays an important role in the growth, metabolism, and metastasis
of tumors. Upregulation of the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) would
stimulate the metastasis and migration of cancer cells. In this study,
we developed an artificial oxygen carrier system, a hemoglobin-loaded
liposome (Hb@lipo), which was capable of effectively delivering oxygen
to tumor. The way of providing oxygen not only alleviated tumor hypoxia
but also downregulated the expression of HIF, which is conducive to
reducing tumor malignancy. Alleviating the tumor hypoxic microenvironment
alone is not enough to inhibit tumor metastasis; thus, we prepared
the liposome containing a chemotherapeutic agent cabazitaxel (CBZ@lipo).
Our data indicated that the combination therapy of Hb@lipo and CBZ@lipo
can efficiently kill cancer cells and inhibit tumor growth. At the
same time, it can effectively entrap cancer cells in tumor sites by
relieving the hypoxic microenvironment of tumors and reduce the metastasis
of cancer cells during and after the chemotherapy. Our research may
provide a clinical cancer chemotherapy reference that reduces the
risk of cancer cell metastasis while inhibiting tumor growth.