The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diblock copolymer poly(D
L-lactide)-block-methoxy polyethylene glycol as an i.v. delivery vehic
le for paclitaxel. Nude mice were implanted s.c. with fragments of MV-
522 lung carcinomas and treated with paclitaxel on a daily x 5 schedul
e when tumors were approximately 5 x 5 mm in size, Cremophor paclitaxe
l or polymeric micellar paclitaxel were given i.p. or i.v. at the maxi
mum tolerated dose (Cremophar paclitaxel MTD: 20 mg/kg/day i.v. or i.p
.; micellar paclitaxel MTD: 25 mg/kg/day i.v. or 100 mg/kg/day i.p.).
The tumors were measured using callipers during the experiment and acc
urately weighted at the end. Two biodistribution studies were carried
out. In one study, the nude mice were given micellar paclitaxel at a d
ose of 25 mg/kg i.v. or 100 mg/kg i.p. In another study, BDF-1 mice we
re given either micellar paclitaxel or Cremophor paclitaxel at a dose
of 20 mg/kg i.v. The mice were sacrificed after a given time and the o
rgans were harvested. Paclitaxel in the organs was extracted with acet
onitrile and analyzed using HPLC. Tumor growth inhibitions of 98.5 and
98.7% were obtained from i.v. administered micellar paclitaxel and Cr
emophor paclitaxel at their MTDs, respectively. Micellar paclitaxel wa
s more efficacious i.p. (98.7% tumor growth inhibition) than Cremophor
paclitaxel i.p. (83.0% tumor growth inhibition) al their MTDs. The hi
ghest concentrations of paclitaxel were found in the liver after admin
istration of paclitaxel formulations. Paclitaxel was also found in spl
een, kidney, lung and blood, in order of decreasing concentration. The
preliminary results indicate that polymeric micellar paclitaxel could
be a clinically useful chemotherapeutic formulation.