Nanoparticles are promising novel drug delivery carriers that allow
tumor targeting and controlled drug release. In the present study, we prepared poly butyl-
cyanoacrylate nanoparticles (PBCA-NP) entrapped with
hypocrellin B (HB) to improve the effect of
photodynamic therapy (
PDT) in
ovarian cancer. An
ovarian cancer ascites model using Fischer 344 rats and PBCA-NP entrapped with HB (HB-PBCA-NP) were formed successfully. The pharmacodynamic characteristics and biodistribution of the HB-PBCA-NP system were evaluated by comparison with HB
dimethyl sulfoxide (HB-
DMSO) and testing at various time-points following intraperitoneal drug administration. HB-PBCA-NP-based
PDT combined with
cytoreductive surgery was then administrated to the
tumor-bearing animals. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to assess the
therapeutic effect of the nanoparticle system. The serum HB concentration peaked 4 h after drug administration in the nanoparticle system, and 1 h with HB-
DMSO. The peak exposure time of
tumor tissues was also extended (4 vs. 2 h), and PBCA-NP remained present for much longer than HB-
DMSO. Although
PDT combined with surgery prolonged the survival time significantly compared with surgery alone (84 days, P<0.05), there was no significant difference in the survival time of animals that received either HB-PBCA-NP- or HB-
DMSO-based
PDT after
cytoreductive surgery (99 vs. 95 days, P=0.293). PBCA-NP exhibited potential advantages in controlled drug release and
tumor targeting, which was beneficial for HB-based
PDT.
PDT combined with surgery prolonged the survival time, suggesting that this might be an alternative treatment option for
ovarian cancer.