Cetuximab and Doxorubicin loaded dextran-coated Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles as novel targeted nanocarriers for non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 80–85% of all lung cancer which is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Eighty percent of NSCLC patients exhibit high levels of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression. In recent years, Doxorubicin (Dox, a widely used chemotherapeutic drug) and/or Cetuximab (Cet, an EGFR-targeted inhibitor) combined with nanoparticles for cancer therapy have attracted significant attention due to their efficient targeting and the resulting increased cytotoxicity on tumor cells. Herein, we report the effects of Dox and Cet, co-conjugated to dextran-coated Fe 3 O 4 magnetic nanoparticles (Dox-NPs-Cet) on the NSCLC cell line A549, which expresses a high level of EGFR. Cytotoxicity, cell proliferation and intercellular uptake were investigated after treatment with this conjugate. The results indicate that Dox-NPs-Cet significantly suppress cell proliferation of A549 cells as compared with A549 cells treated with NPs only conjugated with Dox. In summary, our study demonstrates that Dox-NPs-Cet could serve as a promising candidate for targeted therapy of NSCLC.