PLGA from PolySciTech used in development of dual-drug nanotherapy against Non-small cell lung cancer

 

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a common type of lung cancer which affects millions worldwide. It remains very difficult to treat as commonly applied drugs often lead to drug resistant strains of the cancer which require even more aggressive therapies. Recently, researchers at St. John's University and Keck Graduate Institute used PLGA’s (AP040, AP045, AP036) from PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) as part of their development of a dual-drug nanoparticle carrier assembly. They found the combination of Quinacrine and Erlotinib in nanoparticle formulations is more effective than either drug as these drugs work together against the cancer. This research holds promise to improve therapy against Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Read more: Kulkarni, Nishant S., Bhuvaneshwar Vaidya, and Vivek Gupta. "Nano-synergistic Combination of Erlotinib and Quinacrine for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Therapeutics–Evaluation in Biologically Relevant In-vitro Models." Materials Science and Engineering: C (2021): 111891. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0928493121000291

“Highlights: Proof-of-concept study to ascertain the potential of Erlotinib and Quinacrine to work synergistically against NSCLC. Sensitization of cancer cells still remains a viable technique to enhance synergistic potential of a combination therapy. Use of nanoformulations can effectively enhance the synergistic potential of erlo-quin combinatorial therapy. Use of Bio-relevant 3D and 5D in-vitro tumor models for effectively testing therapy for Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Abstract: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), pre-dominant subtype of lung cancer, is a global disorder affecting millions worldwide. One of the early treatments for NSCLC was use of a first-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor, Erlotinib (Erlo). However, chronic exposure to Erlo led to development of acquired drug resistance (ADR) in NSCLC, limiting the clinical use of Erlo. A potential approach to overcome development of ADR is a multi-drug therapy. It has been previously reported that Erlo and Quinacrine (QA), an anti-malarial drug, can work synergistically to inhibit tumor progression in NSCLC. However, the combination failed at clinical stages, citing lack of efficacy. In this study, an effort has been made to improve the efficacy of Erlo-QA combination via development of nanoformulations, known to enhance therapeutic efficacy of potent chemotherapies. Synergy between Erlo and QA was measured via estimating the combination indices (CI). It was seen that established combination of nanoformulations (CI: 0.25) had better synergy than plain drug solutions (CI: 0.85) in combination. Following extensive in-vitro testing, data were simulated in biologically relevant 3D tumor models. Two tumor models were developed for extensive in-vitro testing, 3D-Spheroids grown in ultra-low attachment culture plates for efficacy evaluation and a 5D-spheroid model in 5D-sphericalplate with capability of growing 750 spheroids/well for protein expression analysis. Extensive studies on these models revealed that combination of Erlo and QA nanoformulations overall had a better effect in terms of synergy enhancement as compared to plain drug combination. Further, effect of combinatorial therapy on molecular markers was evaluated on 5D-Sphericalplate leading to similar effects on synergy enhancement. Results from present study suggests that combination of nanoformulations can improve the synergy between Erlo and QA while reducing the overall therapeutic dose.”