BACKGROUND

Emerging treatment options for colon cancer are needed to overcome the limitations regarding the side effects of current chemotherapeutics and drug resistance. The goal of this study was to assess the antitumor actions of PEGylated long-circulating liposomes (LCL) co-delivering curcumin (CURC) and doxorubicin (DOX) on murine colon carcinoma cells (C26).

METHODS

The cytotoxicity of CURC and DOX, administered alone or in combination, either in free or LCL form, was evaluated with regard to antiproliferative effects on C26 cells and to protumor processes that might be affected.

RESULTS

Our results indicated that PEGylated LCL-CURC-DOX exerted strong antiproliferative effects on C26 cells, slightly exceeding those induced by free CURC-DOX, but higher than either agent administered alone in their free form. These effects of LCL-CURC-DOX were due to the inhibition of the production of angiogenic/inflammatory proteins in a NF-κB-dependent manner, but were independent of ROS production or AP-1 c-Jun activation. Notable, the anti-angiogenic actions of LCL-CURC-DOX appeared to be much stronger than those induced by the co-administration of CURC and DOX in their free form, on C26 colon cancer cells.

CONCLUSION

LCL-CURC-DOX demonstrated enhanced cytotoxicity on C26 murine colon cancer cells by inhibiting the production of the majority of factors involved in tumor-associated angiogenesis and inflammation and is now being evaluated in vivo regarding its efficacy towards tumor growth in colon cancer.