Novel therapy modalities combining photodynamic therapy and liposomal cisplatin for pancreatic cancer treatments

Abstract

Combination therapy is the mainstream cancer treatment to achieve the best clinical benefits for patients. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) can improve vascular permeability and enhance nanoparticle uptake in tumors with drug delivery permeability and retention effects. PDT can also minimize tissue damage compared with traditional chemotherapy. Therefore, it is beneficial to use PDT with chemotherapeutic administrations to obtain these benefits. Cisplatin (CDDP) is a widely used chemotherapeutic drug with strong toxic side effects such as nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity. Our novel study is the first original study to investigate PDT with novel lipid-platinum chloride (LPC) nanoparticles to prove the results of greater efficacy and minimal side effects. In the in vitro study, CDDP and LPC nanoparticles enhanced higher amounts of cell death as the concentration increased. The treatment effects of PDT+LPC NPs using pancreatic MIAPaCa-2 and PANC-1 tumor models revealed that PDT+LPC significantly inhibited tumor growth. The body weight of all animals increased with animals showing no side effects. IHC assays for Ki-67, CD31, and cleaved caspase-3, TUNEL assays and western blot assays showed consistent results. Collectively, the combined PDT with LPC nanoparticles showed significant therapeutic outcomes with promising potential for clinical applications.