Disulfide-Crosslinked mPEG-PLA-(LA)₄ Nanomicelles for Taxane Delivery in Breast Cancer Therapy

Taxanes represent a crucial class of chemotherapeutic agents clinically employed for the treatment of various malignancies, including breast cancer. Three commonly utilized taxanes-paclitaxel (Taxol), docetaxel (Taxotere), and cabazitaxel-are substantially limited by inherent drawbacks such as poor aqueous solubility, rapid clearance, and non-specific distribution. To enhance their anti-tumor efficacy against breast cancer, an mPEG-PLA-(LA)₄ nanomicelle carrier was designed and synthesized in this study for the loading of these three taxanes. These nanomicelles were designed to improve the aqueous compatibility and nanomicelle-mediated delivery of hydrophobic taxanes. In vivo animal experiments were conducted to evaluate the therapeutic effects of the three drug-loaded nanomicelles on subcutaneous human breast cancer MCF-7 xenografts in BALB/c nude mice. The results demonstrated that the injectable paclitaxel, docetaxel, and cabazitaxel micelles exhibited significant inhibitory effects on the MCF-7 xenograft tumors. These findings suggest that mPEG-PLA-(LA)₄ DS nanomicelles may serve as a structurally defined and versatile carrier platform for hydrophobic taxane delivery.