title: A novel non-toxic camptothecin formulation for cancer chemotherapy.
abstract: The use of a novel injectable biocompatible and biodegradable camptothecin-polymer implant for sustained intra-tumoral release of high concentrations of camptothecin is described. The drug delivery vehicle is an in situ thermogelling formulation, which is based on the natural biopolymer chitosan. This formulation, containing homogeneously dispersed camptothecin, was implanted intra-tumorally into a sub-cutaneous mouse tumor model (RIF-l). The effectiveness of treatment was measured in terms of tumor growth delay (TGD). Animals treated with the polymer implants containing camptothecin had significantly longer TGDs compared to untreated animals as well as to animals treated systemically with camptothecin by intra-peritoneal injection with no evidence of toxicity in terms of loss of body weight. The results indicate that this novel biodegradable polymer implant is an effective vehicle for the sustained intra-tumoral delivery of camptothecin which might also be suitable to deliver other insoluble anti-cancer drugs such as taxol.
authors.affiliation: Bio Syntech Canada Inc, 475 Armand-Frappier, Laval, Que., Canada H7V 4B3.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berrada
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serreqi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dabbarh
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Owusu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lehnert
mesh_terms: D020341:Absorbable Implants; D000818:Animals; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D002166:Camptothecin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D004058:Diffusion; D004343:Drug Implants / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry*; D005354:Fibrosarcoma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008422:Materials Testing; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D004343:Drug Implants; D048271:Chitosan; D002166:Camptothecin