Figure 3.

Regional delivery of Nano-taxol suppresses vital organ metastases.

Notes: (A) Control of liver metastases. Liver metastasis was induced in the mice by injection of tumor cells into the spleen on day 1. The mice in the indicated groups (n=5 in each group) received their treatments on days 8, 11, and 14. The livers were retrieved on day 18. Regional (intraperitoneal) delivery of Nano-taxol demonstrates the best control of liver metastases. Representative figures are shown. The arrow indicates the tumor (upper panel). H&E staining of the liver showing the ratio of tumor versus normal tissue (lower panel). (B) Control of lung metastases. Lung metastases were induced in the mice by a tail vein injection of tumor cells on day 1. The mice administered regional (intrapleural) delivery of Nano-taxol demonstrate the best control of lung metastases. Intrapleural delivery of Nano-taxol demonstrates not only satisfactory suppression of lung metastases but also suppression of intraperitoneal metastases. Hence, regional delivery of nanomedicine can be viewed as a treatment that involves the concept of a drug reservoir. Sustained-release of free drug from a reservoir effectively controls local (lung) metastases and also distant (intraperitoneal) metastases. (C) Control of retroperitoneal lymph node metastases. Retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis was induced in mice by injection of tumor cells on day 1. The mice in the different groups received the indicated treatment on days 8, 11, and 14 and were sacrificed on day 18. Regional (intraperitoneal) delivery of Nano-taxol demonstrated the best control of metastases to retroperitoneal lymph nodes (upper panel. Arrows indicate enlarged lymph nodes). The number of lymph nodes was counted (lower panel). The experiments were performed in triplicate. (D) Summary of the hazard ratio of overall survival for each type of vital organ metastasis.

Abbreviations: H&E, hematoxylin and eosin; i.p., intraperitoneal; i.v., intravenous.