Optimization and development of lycopene-loaded hydrogel for breast cancer using Box-Behnken design

The aim of this study was to optimize, formulate, and evaluate a hydrogel composed of chitosan and β-glycerophosphate (β-GP) for the delivery of lycopene in the treatment of breast cancer. Box-Behnken design (BBD) was employed to optimize the formulation, where chitosan concentration (A), β-GP concentration (B) as critical material attributes (CMAs), and stirring speed (C) as critical process parameter (CPP) were selected. The hydrogel was optimized based on gelation time and swelling ratio. The optimized formulation exhibited a gelation time of 145 ± 1.2s, and a swelling ratio of 130.57 ± 2.4%. In Vitro drug release studies demonstrated lycopene release over 24 h. Cytotoxicity studies against breast cancer cell lines demonstrated IC₅₀ values of 95.45 μg/mL for MCF-7 and 91.16 μg/mL for MDA-MB-231 cells under in vitro conditions. These results suggested that the optimized hydrogel may serve as a feasible platform for localized drug delivery against breast cancer.