Targeting Tumor Cells with Nanoparticles for Enhanced Co-Drug Delivery in Cancer Treatment

Gastric cancer (GC) is a fatal malignant tumor, and effective therapies to attenuate its progression are lacking. Nanoparticle (NP)-based solutions may enable the design of novel treatments to eliminate GC. Refined, receptor-targetable NPs can selectively target cancer cells and improve the cellular uptake of drugs. To overcome the current limitations and enhance the therapeutic effects, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and low-concentration doxorubicin (DX) were encapsulated in fucoidan and d-alpha-tocopherylpoly (ethylene glycol) succinate-conjugated hyaluronic acid-based NPs for targeting P-selectin-and cluster of differentiation (CD)44-expressing gastric tumors. The EGCG/DX-loaded NPs bound to GC cells and released bioactive combination drugs, demonstrating better anti-cancer effects than the EGCG/DX combination solution. In vivo assays in an orthotopic gastric tumor mouse model showed that the EGCG/DX-loaded NPs significantly increased the activity of gastric tumors without inducing organ injury. Overall, our EGCG/DX-NP system exerted a beneficial effect on GC treatment and may facilitate the development of nanomedicine-based combination chemotherapy against GC in the future.