AUGMENTED EFFICACY OF NANO-FORMULATED DOCETAXEL PLUS CURCUMIN IN ORTHOTOPIC MODELS OF NEUROBLASTOMA

Neuroblastoma is a biologically heterogeneous extracranial tumor, derived from the sympathetic nervous system, that affects most often the pediatric population. Therapeutic strategies relying on aggressive chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy have a negative outcome in advanced or recurrent disease. Here, spherical polymeric nanomedicines (SPN) are engineered to co-deliver a potent combination therapy, including the cytotoxic docetaxel (DTXL) and the natural wide-spectrum anti-inflammatory curcumin (CURC). Using an oil-in-water emulsion/solvent evaporation technique, four SPN configurations were engineered depending on the therapeutic payload and characterized for their physico-chemical and pharmacological properties. All SPN configurations presented a hydrodynamic diameter of ∼185nm with a narrow size distribution. A biphasic release profile was observed for all the configurations, with almost 90% of the total drug mass released within the first 24hours. SPN cytotoxic potential was assessed on a panel of human neuroblastoma cells, returning IC