Mass transfer of anti-cancer drug delivery to brain tumours by a multiple emulsion-based implant

The advanced use of a pH-responsive biomaterial-based injectable liquid implant for effective chemotherapeutic delivery in glioblastoma multiforme brain (GBM) tumour treatment is presented. As an implant, we proposed a water-in-oil-in-water multiple emulsion with encapsulated doxorubicin. The effectiveness of the proposed therapy was evaluated by comparing the cancer cell viability achieved in classical therapy (chemotherapeutic solution). The experimental study included doxorubicin release rates and consumption for two emulsions differing in drop sizes and structures in the presence of GBM-cells (LN229, U87 MG), and a cell viability. The results showed that the multiple emulsion implant was significantly more effective than classical therapy when considering the reduction in cancer cell viability: 85% for the emulsion-implant, and only 43% for the classical therapy. A diffusion-reaction model was adapted to predict doxorubicin release kinetics and elimination by glioblastoma cells. CFD simulations confirmed that the drug release kinetics depends on multiple emulsion structures and drop sizes.