Non-Porous Hydrogel Scaffolds for Locoregional Chemotherapy: A One-Pot Synthesis Approach

Abstract

Although surgery is common in the treatment of solid tumors in cancer, the risk of recurrence after operation is high in malignant tumors. This study focuses on fabricating doxorubicin-loaded, non-porous POEGMEMA (Poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate)) and PLGA (Poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide))/POEGMEMA scaffolds for locoregional chemotherapy. Polymer synthesis, hydrogel formation, and drug-loading processes are performed using a one-pot approach. The scaffolds were characterized by mechanical, swelling, degradation, and release tests. 10% PLGA content, causes PLGA/POEGMEMA scaffolds to give a 2.5 times lower swelling ratio and sixfold higher compression stress than POEGMEMA scaffolds. Also, PLGA addition causes an increase in the biodegradation half-life of POEGMEMA-based hydrogel scaffolds. While PLGA/POEGMEMA scaffolds exhibit a degradation-dependent release profile, POEGMEMA scaffolds give a burst release due to their high water uptake ratio. The burst release behavior of POEGMEMA scaffolds causes a high antiproliferative effect (viable cells: 5–10%) against HT-29 and MCF-7 cancer cells in the short term. In contrast, the controlled and sustained release profile of PLGA/POEGMEMA scaffolds shows an antiproliferative effect (viable cells: 50–60%) dependent on the release ratio. This hydrogel scaffold platform allows tuning physical and functional properties to deal with diverse physiological conditions at the region after tumor surgery for locoregional chemotherapy.