Current delivery of
chemotherapy, either intra-venous or intra-arterial, remains suboptimal for patients with head and neck
tumors. The free form of
chemotherapy drugs, such as
docetaxel, has non-specific tissue targeting and poor solubility in blood that deters treatment efficacy. Upon reaching the
tumors, these drugs can also be easily washed away by the interstitial fluids.
Liposomes have been used as nanocarriers to enhance
docetaxel bioavailability. However, they are affected by potential interstitial dislodging due to insufficient intratumoral permeability and retention capabilities. Here, we developed and characterized
docetaxel-loaded anionic nanoliposomes coated with a layer of mucoadhesive
chitosan (chitosomes) for the application of
chemotherapy drug delivery. The anionic
liposomes were 99.4 ± 1.5 nm in diameter with a zeta potential of -26 ± 2.0 mV. The
chitosan coating increased the
liposome size to 120 ± 2.2 nm and the surface charge to 24.8 ± 2.6 mV. Chitosome formation was confirmed via FTIR spectroscopy and mucoadhesive analysis with anionic
mucin dispersions. Blank
liposomes and chitosomes showed no cytotoxic effect on human laryngeal stromal and
cancer cells. Chitosomes were also internalized into the cytoplasm of human
laryngeal cancer cells, indicating effective nanocarrier delivery. A higher cytotoxicity (p < 0.05) of
docetaxel-loaded chitosomes towards human
laryngeal cancer cells was observed compared to human stromal cells and control treatments. No hemolytic effect was observed on human red blood cells after a 3 h exposure, proving the proposed intra-arterial administration. Our in vitro results supported the potential of
docetaxel-loaded chitosomes for locoregional
chemotherapy delivery to
laryngeal cancer cells.