Biodistribution and antitumoral effect of long-circulating and pH-sensitive liposomal cisplatin administered in Ehrlich tumor-bearing mice.

Cisplatin (CDDP) is one of the most active cytotoxic agents and has been widely used in the treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis by the intraperitoneal (i.p.) route. However, CDDP, a low-molecular-weight compound, is rapidly absorbed by the capillaries in the i.p. serosa and transferred to the bloodstream, inducing the appearance of systemic side-effects, such as nephrotoxicity. Furthermore, the i.p. CDDP chemotherapy is limited to patients whose residual tumor nodules are less than 0.5 cm in diameter after surgical debulking. The failure of i.p. therapy is attributed to the poor penetration of CDDP into larger tumors. One strategy to improve drug delivery in the peritoneal region and reduce toxicity is the use of drug delivery systems. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the biodistribution and antitumoral effect of long-circulating and pH-sensitive liposomes containing CDDP (SpHL-CDDP), as compared with free CDDP, after their i.p. administration in Ehrlich ascitic tumor-bearing mice. Aft...