Issue 34, 2017

Improving tumor chemotherapy effect using an injectable self-healing hydrogel as drug carrier

Abstract

Chemotherapy has contributed greatly in clinical anti-tumor treatment. However, the traditional method of drug delivery by intravenous injection has several drawbacks, such as low delivery efficiency, high toxicity and frequent pain caused by injection. To overcome these defects, intra-tumor injection has been proposed in recent years, and the development of suitable carriers to locate the drug at the desired position for optimum dispersal is crucial to realize the superiority of intra-tumor injection. Herein, we report the application of a chitosan-based self-healing hydrogel, constructed through Schiff's bases, as an injectable drug carrier for in vivo intra-tumor therapy. This smart carrier could deliver highly concentrated anti-tumor drug (Taxol) to the desired position (human hepatocarcinoma tumor) for steady in situ release at a safe level. The self-healing drug carrier could adapt to the intra-tumor structure and regenerate as a whole, thus avoiding the fast leak of loaded drug, leading to admirable therapeutic effects compared with controls (direct injection of drug solution or use of non-self-healable thermal-sensitive hydrogel as the drug carrier). Due to its excellent biocompatibility and high operability, this injectable self-healing hydrogel might be a promising drug carrier for tumor chemotherapy and other medical applications.

Graphical abstract: Improving tumor chemotherapy effect using an injectable self-healing hydrogel as drug carrier

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 ม.ค. 2560
Accepted
06 มี.ค. 2560
First published
13 มี.ค. 2560

Polym. Chem., 2017,8, 5071-5076

Improving tumor chemotherapy effect using an injectable self-healing hydrogel as drug carrier

L. Yang, Y. Li, Y. Gou, X. Wang, X. Zhao and L. Tao, Polym. Chem., 2017, 8, 5071 DOI: 10.1039/C7PY00112F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements