5 Flurouracil and Etodolac Co-Encapsulated Liposomes for Targeted Drug Delivery: A Novel Strategy Into Nanomedicine Based Combinational Chemotherapy for Breast and Ovarian Cancers

Background and Purpose: The probability of a women suffering from the breast and ovarian cancers is close to 1 in 78 and death by the same is 1 in 108 excluding low malignant potential tumours. 5- FU is credited to be one of the oldest and still effective chemotherapeutics for breast and ovarian cancer which is given as a single or combined modality with other suitable agents. Etodolac which was initially approved by FDA as an COX-2 inhibitor was recently found to have adjuvant chemotherapeutic activity. It was reported that combination of Etodolac with 5-FU, increases the sensitivity of 5-FU in neck carcinoma and this was not reported on ovarian and breast cancers. Liposomal drug delivery system is good approach to overcome shorter half-life, toxicity of drugs and to improve the therapeutic potential of drug. In this study our aim is to optimise the liposomal formulations of Etodolac and 5-FU in combination for better treatment of ovarian and breast cancers. Methods: The liposomes were prepared by a thin film hydration technique followed by probe sonication to optimise the particles size. Liposomes were evaluated for particle size and zeta potential by dynamic light scattering method, surface morphology by scanning electron microscopy, entrapment by spectroscopic analysis, invitro drug release studies using cellulose membrane and cytotoxicity by MTT assay. Results: The liposomes were optimised for various parameters such as particle size, entrapment and MTT assay using various drug: lipid ratio. The prepared formulation was reported to have a particle size of 123nm (PDI= 0.31), zeta potential of -53.69±10.3mV, with a smooth morphological surface. Average entrapment was determined to be as 75% and 45% for lipophilic and hydrophilic drugs respectively. Further studies have to be conducted to determine invitro drug release and cytotoxicity of the formulation.