[Study on the mitoxantrone ethylcellulose microspheres for liver artery embolization]

Area of Science:

• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Materials Science
• Oncology Drug Delivery

Context:

• Liver embolization is a critical treatment for liver tumors.
• Developing effective drug delivery systems is crucial for improving therapeutic outcomes.
• Mitoxantrone ethylcellulose microspheres (DHAQ-EC-MS) offer potential for targeted liver cancer therapy.

Purpose:

• To optimize the preparation of mitoxantrone ethylcellulose microspheres (DHAQ-EC-MS) for liver embolization.
• To characterize the morphology, drug loading, and release kinetics of DHAQ-EC-MS.
• To evaluate the stability and suitability of DHAQ-EC-MS suspension for clinical application and assess its in vivo performance.

Summary:

• Orthogonal tests successfully optimized the preparation of mitoxantrone ethylcellulose microspheres (DHAQ-EC-MS).
• The optimized DHAQ-EC-MS exhibited regular morphology (110.24 ± 38.19 microns), 12.5% drug loading, and 55.6% embedding ratio.
• Drug release followed a single exponential model, with a half-release time of 2.6 hours. The microspheres were stable and suitable for clinical suspension.

Impact:

• DHAQ-EC-MS suspension is suitable for clinical liver artery embolization.
• In vivo studies in dogs demonstrated higher hepatic vein drug concentrations and a 2.45-fold increase in mean residence time (MRT0-72) compared to DHAQ solution.
• These findings suggest DHAQ-EC-MS can improve drug efficacy and reduce systemic exposure in liver cancer treatment.