Numerical Study of Thermally Targeted Liposomal Drug Delivery in Tumor

The efficacy of cancer chemotherapy can be greatly enhanced by thermally targeted nanoparticle liposome drug delivery system. A new theoretical model coupling heat and mass transfer has been developed to study the spatial and transient drug distributions. In this model, the influence of tumor cell apoptosis and necrosis in drug transport is also considered, in addition to the tumor microvasculature permeability to nanoliposomes. The model predictions agree well with our previous experimental results, and it has been used to simulate the nanoparticle drug distribution in the tumor under hyperthermic conditions. Results show that hyperthermia alone only enhances drug accumulation in the periphery of a tumor with 1 cm in radius, and the tumor cells in the central region are hardly damaged due to poor drug diffusion. Apoptosis or necrosis of the tumor cells could significantly influence the drug penetration and should be accounted for in drug diffusion modeling to accurately predict the therapeutic effect. Simulation study on the combined radio frequency ablation and liposomal doxorubicin delivery shows more effective treatment outcome, especially for larger tumors. The present model can be used to predict the treatment outcome and optimize the clinical protocol.