P. Tardi et al., Liposomal encapsulation of topotecan enhances anticancer efficacy in murine and human xenograft models, CANCER RES, 60(13), 2000, pp. 3389-3393
Topotecan was encapsulated in sphingomyelin/cholesterol liposomes using an
ionophore-generated proton gradient. After i.v. injection, liposomal topote
can was eliminated from the plasma much more slowly than free drug, resulti
ng in a 400-fold increase in plasma area under the curve. Further, high-per
formance liquid chromatography analysis of plasma samples demonstrated that
topotecan was protected from hydrolysis within the liposomal carrier with
>80% of the drug remaining as the active, lactone species up to 24 h, The i
mproved pharmacokinetics observed with liposomal topotecan correlated with
increased efficacy in both murine and human tumor models. In the L1210 asci
tic tumor model, optimal doses of liposomal topotecan resulted in a 60-day
survival rate of 60-80%, whereas in a L1210 liver metastasis model, 100% lo
ng-term survival(>60 days) was achieved. In contrast, long-term survivors w
ere rarely seen after treatment with free topotecan. Further, in a human br
east carcinoma model (MDA 435/CC6), liposomal topotecan provided greatly im
proved increase in life span relative to the free drug. These results sugge
st that liposomal encapsulation can significantly enhance the therapeutic a
ctivity of topotecan.