In vivo evaluation of curcumin-loaded nanoparticles in a A549 xenograft mice model.

Curcumin (Cum) has been reported to have potential chemo-preventive and chemotherapeutic activity through influencing various processes, inducing cell cycle arrest, differentiation and apoptosis in a series of cancers. However, the poor solubility of Cum limits its further applications in the treatment of cancer. We have previously reported Cum-loaded nanoparticles (Cum-NPs) prepared with amphilic methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-polycaprolactone (mPEG-PCL) block copolymers. The current study demonstrated superior antitumor efficacy of Cum-NPs over free Cum in the treatment of lung cancer. In vivo evaluation further demonstrated superior anticancer effects of Cum-NPs by delaying tumor growth compared to free Cum in an established A549 transplanted mice model. Moreover, Cum-NPs showed little toxicity to normal tissues including bone marrow, liver and kidney at a therapeutic dose. These results suggest that Cum-NPs are effective to inhibit the growth of human lung cancer with little toxicity to normal tissues, and could provide a clinically useful therapeutic regimen. They thus merit more research to evaluate the feasibility of clinical application.