Enhanced lymphatic delivery of nanomicelles encapsulating CXCR4-recognizing peptide and doxorubicin for the treatment of breast cancer

Lymph node metastases in cancer patients are associated with high aggressiveness, poor prognosis, and short survival time. The chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4)/stroma derived factor 1α (CXCL12) biological axis plays a critical role in the spread of cancer cells. Designing effective delivery systems that can successfully deliver CXCR4 antagonists to lymph nodes, which are rich in CXCR4-overexpressing cancer cells, for controlling cancer metastasis remain challenging. In this study, we demonstrated that such a challenge may be alleviated by developing nanometer-sized polyethylene glycol-phosphatidylethanolamine (PEG-PE) micelles for the co-delivery of the CXCR4 antagonistic peptide E5 and doxorubicin (M-E5-Dox). This nanomicelle platform enables the preferential accumulation of cargos into lymph nodes and thus can better inhibit cancer metastasis and enhance antitumor efficacy than either free drugs or single drug-loaded micelles in breast cancer-bearing mouse models. Hence, M-E5-Dox is expected to be a potential therapeutic agent that would improve the clinical benefits of breast cancer therapy and treatment of various CXCR4-overexpressing malignancies.