Lung cancer remains a leading cause of death due to the low efficacy of chemotherapy, mainly related to the administration route used. Therefore, alternative administration routes are needed. Paclitaxel (PTX) is an insoluble anticancer drug active against solid tumors, such as those found in lung cancer, that has stimulated an intense research effort over recent years. Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) are potential carriers for poorly soluble drugs, being biodegradable systems that served as alternatives to the usual colloidal carriers. That system was used to deliver PTX to the lungs and seem to fulfill the requirements for an optimum particulate carrier. Furthermore, PTX-loaded SLN pulmonary administration provided a target administration, which is expected to avoid high concentration of the drug at nontarget tissues, reducing toxicity, and increasing the drug's therapeutic index. The rationale of this study was to deliver a colloidal system to the lung lymphatics through a pulmonary route for cancer therapy.
From the clinical editor: Paclitaxel-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles were used to target tumors in a murine lung cancer model enabling high PTX concentration in the target with reduced systemic toxicity and increased therapeutic index.
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