Mesoporous Organosilica Nanoparticles as a Promising Carrier to Enhance Efficacy/Safety Ratio for Advanced Ovarian Cancer

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Marian Olewine, UNM Paulina Naydenkov, UNM Rita Serda, UNM Jeffrey Brinker, UNM Achraf Noureddine, UNM

According to the American Cancer Society many anti-cancer drugs including chemotherapeutics (such as paclitaxel and irinotecan) and targeted therapeutics (Afatinib and Rapamycin) used in clinics are hydrophobic and suffer from low bioavailability so higher repetitive doses are needed. For these reasons, biocompatible carriers are needed to protect the drug and increase its bioavailability. Advanced stage ovarian cancer in women involves intraperitoneal injection (IP) of high doses of chemotherapeutic drugs which generally results in severe side effects. Therefore, new drug combination that lessen the chemotherapy dose but maintain same efficacy are attractive. Afatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor is currently used as a first line treatment for non-small cell lung cancer and being investigated for Her2 positive breast cancer. Serous epithelial ovarian cancer express Her2/neu mutations [1], indicating that Afatinib can be a promising therapy. We have developed lipid-coated organosilica nanoparticles that efficiently load the hydrophobic drugs and screened the efficacy to BR5 mice ovarian cancer cells of various drug combination in presence of Afatinib. [1] Alvarez et al Gynecol Oncol Rep._2019