Antitumor activity of electrospun polylactide nanofibers loaded with 5-fluorouracil and oxaliplatin against colorectal cancer

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate both in vitro and in vivo anticancer activities against colorectal cancer (CRC) of electrospun polylactide (PLA) nanofibers loaded with 5-fluorouracil (5-Flu) and oxaliplatin. For in vitro evaluation, human CRC HCT8 cells were directly exposed to the drug-loaded fiber mats, followed with MTT and flow cytometry (FCM) assay. For in vivo evaluation, the drug-loaded fiber mats were locally implanted into mouse colorectal CT26 tumor-bearing mice, followed with histological analysis and detection of survival rate. The results showed that the drug-loaded fiber mats was similar to that of the combination of free 5-Flu and oxaliplatin in vitro cytotoxicity but was much superior to intravenous injection of free drug in vivo anticancer activities, presenting with suppressed tumor growth rate and prolonged survival time of mice. In conclusion, anticancer activities of 5-Flu and oxaliplatin against CRC can be significantly improved by using PLA electrospun nanofibers as local drug delivery system.

• Colorectal cancer
• electrospinning
• local chemotherapy
• nanofibers
• polylactide

Declaration of interest

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No.21004062, 51103148, and 51373167) and by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (“973 Project”, No. 2009CB930102).