Failure of liposomally encapsulated Adriamycin to improve therapeutic efficacy for cancer cells in vitro

Abstract

The anticancer drug Adriamycin was tested in vitro both in free form and encapsulated in negatively charged liposomes. [³H]-thymidine incorporation and a 72-hour survival test were used for the evaluation of cytotoxicity in a phagocytic human melanoma cell line and a non-phagocytic human ovarian carcinoma cell line. In each case, free Adriamycin induced greater cell damage than did liposomal drug. Stability tests of the liposomes used for subsequent cytoxicity studies under the exact conditions of the cell culture assay revealed that up to 45 per cent of the originally entrapped drug was released from the lipid vesicles over a 24-hour period.