Cisplatin Chitosan microparticles to prevent recurrent breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women. In order to prevent the occurrence of metastases and the recurrence of tumors, a hydrogel breast implant loaded with cisplatin chitosan microparticles is to be produced in the presented study.

3D sponge loaded with cisplatin–CS–calcium alginate MPs utilized as a void-filling prosthesis for the efficient postoperative prevention of tumor recurrence and metastasis

Yang, Yihong & Ye, Genlan & Qiu, Xiaozhong. (2024). 3D sponge loaded with cisplatin–CS–calcium alginate MPs utilized as a void-filling prosthesis for the efficient postoperative prevention of tumor recurrence and metastasis. RSC Advances. 14. 7517-7527. 10.1039/d3ra07516h.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women and leads to high mortality worldwide. Overall, it accounts for 23% of all cancer cases and 14% of cancer-related deaths. The main treatment options are surgical removal, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Surgical removal, the most commonly used treatment method, often results in tumor recurrence as well as metastasis, the most common cause of cancer-related deaths. While chemotherapy or radiation often results in damage to other organs or cells. In addition to effective, targeted treatment, the demand for aesthetic reconstruction after breast cancer treatment is also increasing.

Strategies for more targeted and effective treatment include local drug delivery systems such as drug-loaded microparticles (MPs), gels, films or fibers. In addition, the surgical removal of tumors often results in bleeding, which can also lead to the spread of tumor cells. For these reasons, a drug-delivery implant with chemotherapeutic antitumor capacity and hemostatic properties is to be produced in the study presented here.

Cisplatin is one of the oldest chemotherapeutic agents and has a toxicity that increases with the dose. Targeted drug delivery can be enabled by microparticles. In this study, therefore, cis-platinum will be encapsulated in chitosan-sodium alginate microparticles. Cisplatin interacts there with the cross-linked chitosan and sodium alginate. These are embedded in various concentrations (10 mg/ml; 20 mg/ml; 30 mg/ml; 40 mg/ml) in a hydrogel made of methacrylated gelatine (Gel-MA), which also has a hemostatic effect in addition to the chitosan. The prepared in cisplatin-chitosan calcium alginate MPs were subsequently tested in vivo and in vitro.

RESULTS

• Successful preparation of cisplatin-chitosan-calcium alginate MP with a uniform size reduction of less than 145 µm after freeze-drying the particles
• Proof of successful crosslinking between chitosan and calcium alginate via FTIR
• Stability of the gel-MP mixtures increase with increasing MP concentration up to 30 mg/ml, then flattens out
• Elastic properties similar to breast tissue at an MP concentration of 40 mg/ml
• Higher blood coagulation properties with higher MP content and good blood absorption capacity in vitro
• Higher toxicity and better inhibition of cancer cell proliferation at higher MP content
• In vivo experiments showed that with higher MP concentration, the volume of tumor recurrence decreased

Conclusions: The results of the study indicated that cisplatin-chitosan-calcium alginate MPs embedded in a hydrogel can be used as a platform to prevent the recurrence of breast tumors after surgery, as well as can be used for breast reconstruction.

Link to article: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2024/ra/d3ra07516h