Mass transfer of anti-cancer drug delivery to brain tumours by a
multiple emulsion-based implant
Abstract
The advanced use of a pH-responsive biomaterial-based injectable liquid
implant for effective chemotherapeutic delivery in glioblastoma
multiforme brain (GBM) tumour treatment is presented. As an implant, we
proposed a water-in-oil-in-water multiple emulsion with encapsulated
doxorubicin. The effectiveness of the proposed therapy was evaluated by
comparing the cancer cell viability achieved in classical therapy
(chemotherapeutic solution). The experimental study included doxorubicin
release rates and consumption for two emulsions differing in drop sizes
and structures in the presence of GBM-cells (LN229, U87 MG), and a cell
viability. The results showed that the multiple emulsion implant was
significantly more effective than classical therapy when considering the
reduction in cancer cell viability: 85% for the emulsion-implant, and
only 43% for the classical therapy. A diffusion-reaction model was
adapted to predict doxorubicin release kinetics and elimination by
glioblastoma cells. CFD simulations confirmed that the drug release
kinetics depends on multiple emulsion structures and drop sizes.