Single-wall carbon nanotubes based anticancer drug delivery system

Conventional administration of chemotherapeutic agents is compromised by their lack of selectivity which is the cause of a lethal effect accomplishment on healthy tissues. Since therapeutic and diagnostic agents could functionalize the structure of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), the development of CNTs as drug containers would pave the way to their employment as nanovectors into the cells. Here a study on cisplatin (Cis-Diamminedichloroplatinum (CDDP) - a platinum-based chemotherapy drug) embedding to single-wall CNTs (SWCNTs) is shown. Being sure that the anticancer drug discharge occurred, in vitro analysis have been performed. The inhibition of prostate cancer cells (PC3 and DU145) viability from tubes encapsulating cisplatin proved the efficiency of the produced delivery system. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.