OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of target therapy with cisplatin (CDDP)-loaded magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) in combination with chemoradiotherapy against nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell growth in nude mice.

METHODSThirty-six BALB/c mice with implanted tumor of CNE-2 cells were randomly divided into 6 groups (n=6), including the control group, radiotherapy group, CDDP group, CDDP plus radiotherapy group, CDDP-MNP group, and CDDP-MNP plus radiotherapy group. The mice were given 0.3 ml normal saline (control) or corresponding agents (3 mg/kg) via the tail vein, and 0.5 ml saline was administered intragastrically before the injections. Before and after the treatment, the body weight, tumor volume and weight, and the tumor inhibition rates were measured. The proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) index was calculated on the basis of immunohistochemical staining.

RESULTSExcept for the cisplatin group, all the treated groups showed significantly reduced tumor volume as compared with that in the control group (P<0.05) with lowered body weight. Compared with the cisplatin group, the combined treatment groups showed significantly higher tumor inhibition rate (P<0.05), but the effect showed no significant difference from that in the radiotherapy group (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONTargeted therapy with CDDP-loaded MNP alone or in combination with radiotherapy can effectively inhibit the growth of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in nude mice without increasing the toxicity.