Octreotide Conjugated Dual Loaded Nanoparticles Of Topotecan And Thymoquinone For Targeting Breast Cancer: Formulation, Characterization And In Vivo Cytotoxicity Assessment.

Effective cancer therapy by an anticancer drug relies on it’s ability to reach the diseased site in its most active form and target multiple cancer hallmarks. However, the insufficiency of the classical anticancer drugs to target multiple pathways of cancer progression and the inability of the conventional delivery systems to carry the payload to the tumor site results in severe side effects and sub-optimal outcome necessitating the exploration of traditional medicine and measures to improve targeted delivery to treat this highly complex disease. The current study aims at utilizing octreotide as the targeting ligand for decorating the PLGA nanoparticle system incorporating a natural bioactive thymoquinone with a well-established anticancer drug, topotecan, to target the somatostatin receptors overexpressed in breast cancer.