Investigation of the effects of polymeric nanoparticles on dual drug treatment in cancer

Chemotherapy is a widely used treatment method in the treatment of cancer. However, there are various limitations in the application of anticancer drugs due to their non-specific biodistribution and side effects. This disadvantage of chemotherapy can be overcome by the use of nanocarrier systems that can use passive and active targeting mechanisms. At the same time, the use of two anticancer drugs together is one of the effective methods in cancer treatment in the clinic. In dual drug applications in cancer treatment, it is often desired that the drugs reach the target tumor tissue together. However in conventional free drug applications, it is not possible to target drugs with different pharmacokinetic and biodistribution profiles together and at similar rates in tumor tissue. Therefore, targeting dual drug systems using ideal nanocarriers is an appropriate strategy. Biodegradable and biocompatible polymeric nanoparticles are structures that can be used for this purpose. Amphiphilic block-co-polymers such as PEG-PLGA are widely used in the production of micelle-type polymeric nanoparticles. In this study, the suitability of PEG-PLGA-based drug delivery systems for Combrestatin A4 and Docetaxel drugs was tried to be determined by in vitro tests. It has been determined that PEG-PLGA nanoparticles are a suitable transport system for these two drugs in terms of encapsulation efficiency, drug release and cytotoxicity.