Synergic fabrication of combination therapy of Irinotecan and 5-Fluorouracil encapsulated polymeric nanoparticles for the treatment of gastric cancer therapy

Abstract A novel combination therapy for the treatment of gastric cancers has been established using two or more medications with a wide range of mode of actions. The effectiveness of this hybrid drug delivery mechanism involving irinotecan (SN-38) and 5-fluorouracil (5FU) was improved based on their potent anti-tumor capacity, which increased the anticancer property of gastric cells through stabilizing the tumor microenvironment. The encapsulation of SN-38 and 5FU anticancer drugs co-loaded in polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polylactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) are incompetent owing to the inadequacy of the dual anticancer drugs SN-38 and 5FU encapsulated in polymeric biodegradable nanoparticles. Transmission microscopy (TEM) was used to examine the morphology of SN-38@NPs, 5FU@NPs, and SN-38-5FU@NPs, and the structure and size of these nanoparticles. Furthermore, the stability of these nanoparticles was assessed using dynamic light scattering (DLS). SN-38-5FU@NPs also induced in vitro apoptosis of human gastric cells, such as NCI-N87 and SGC-791. Morphological shifts and cell death were detected using various biochemical staining, such as Calcein+/PI and Hoechst staining. Additionally, the mechanistic investigation of cell death was verified using flow cytometry in Annex V-FITC. Altogether, this dual drug delivery approach indicates that SN-38-5FU@NPs might be used as a potential tool to improve the effectiveness of gastric cancer therapy.