Enhanced antitumour efficiency of R8GD-modified epirubicin plus tetrandrine liposomes in treatment of gastric cancer via inhibiting tumour metastasis

Tumour metastasis is a major cause of cancer treatment failure and death, and chemotherapy efficiency for gastric cancer patients is usually unsatisfactory due to tumour cell metastasis, poor targeting and serious adverse reactions. In this study, a kind of R8GD-modified epirubicin plus tetrandrine liposomes was prepared to enhance the antitumor efficiency via killing tumour cells, destroying tumour metastasis and inhibiting energy supply for tumour cells. In order to investigate the antitumour efficiency of the targeting liposomes, morphology observation, intracellular uptake, cytotoxic effects, and inhibition on tumour metastasis and energy supply were carried out in vitro, and tumour-bearing mice models were established to investigate the antitumour efficiency in vivo. In vitro results showed that R8GD-modified epirubicin plus tetrandrine liposomes with ideal physicochemical properties could kill the most tumour cells, inhibit tumour metastasis and cut-off energy supply for tumour cells. In vivo results exhibited that R8GD-modified epirubicin plus tetrandrine liposomes could enhance the accumulation in tumour site and display an obvious antitumor efficiency. Therefore, R8GD-modified epirubicin plus tetrandrine liposomes could be used as a potential therapy for treatment of gastric cancer.