Ultrasound-mediated destruction of LHRHa-targeted and paclitaxel-loaded lipid microbubbles for the treatment of intraperitoneal ovarian cancer xenografts.

Ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD) is a promising technique to facilitate the delivery of chemotherapy in cancer treatment. However, the process typically uses nonspecific microbubbles, leading to low tumor-to-normal tissue uptake ratio and adverse side effects. In this study, we synthesized the LHRH receptor-targeted and paclitaxel (PTX)-loaded lipid microbubbles (TPLMBs) for tumor-specific binding and enhanced therapeutic effect at the tumor site. An ovarian cancer xenograft model was established by injecting A2780/DDP cells intraperitoneally in BALB/c nude mice. Microscopic imaging of tumor sections after intraperitoneal injection of TPLMBs showed effective binding of the microbubbles with cancer cells. Ultrasound mediated destruction of the intraperitoneally injected TPLMBs yielded a superior therapeutic outcome in comparison with other treatment options. Immunohistochemical analyses of the dissected tumor tissue further confirmed the increased tumor apoptosis and reduced angiogenesis. Our experiment suggests that ultrasound-mediated intraperitoneal administration of the targeted drug-loaded microbubbles may be a useful method for the treatment of ovarian cancer.