Targeted delivery of anti-cancer drug sorafenib through magnetic solid lipid nanoparticles

Sorafenib is an anticancer drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and advanced renal carcinoma. The clinical application of sorafenib is promising, yet limited by its insolubility and severe toxic side-effects. The aim of this study is to develop and characterize sorafenib-loaded magnetic nanovectors to deliver and accumulate drug just to the disease site with the help of a remote magnetic field. Sorafenib and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were encapsulated in solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) by a hot homogenization technique, by using cetyl palmitate as lipid matrix. Biological effects were evaluated in vitro on human hepatocarcinoma HepG2. Our results confirm the possibility to prepare stable SLNs able to kill cancer cells through sorafenib cytotoxic effect, and to enhance/localize this effect in a desired area thanks to the magnetically-driven accumulation of the drug.