Melanoma therapy with transdermal mitoxantrone cubic phases

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Dermatology

Background:

• Melanoma poses significant health risks due to high morbidity and mortality.
• Current systemic therapies for melanoma often lack efficacy and cause severe side effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate an effective transdermal formulation for convenient melanoma therapy.
• To investigate the potential of mitoxantrone (MTO) cubic phases as a topical delivery system.

Main Methods:

• Mitoxantrone (MTO) cubic phases were prepared using glyceryl monooleate, ethanol, and water.
• Evaluated MTO cubic phases' transdermal permeability, cytotoxicity against B16 melanoma cells, and in vivo anti-melanoma effects.
• Explored the anti-cancer mechanisms using immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry.

Main Results:

• The isotropic structure of MTO cubic phases was confirmed.
• Transdermal permeability of MTO was significantly enhanced by the cubic phase formulation compared to MTO solution.
• MTO cubic phases demonstrated high cytotoxicity and a significant in vivo anti-melanoma effect, achieving a 68.44% tumor inhibitory rate.
• Increased calreticulin expression and improved MTO cell uptake were observed in B16 cells.

Conclusions:

• MTO cubic phases represent a promising topical delivery system for melanoma.
• This formulation offers a non-invasive approach with potentially fewer severe side effects compared to systemic treatments.