Biodistribution and tumor-accumulation of gadolinium (Gd) encapsulated in long-circulating liposomes in tumor-bearing mice for potential neutron capture therapy

To deliver and maintain a sufficient amount of Gd into tumors is required for a successful Gd neutron capture therapy (Gd-NCT), but it has been proven to be rather challenging to achieve. Previously, we have reported a Gd-encapsulated liposome formulation that has the potential to overcome this challenge. In the present study, we sought to systemically evaluate the biodistribution and the tumor-accumulation of the Gd in model tumor-bearing mice. The Gd-encapsulated liposomes were injected into mice pre-grafted with two different model tumors. The Gd content in the tumors and other organs were determined at various time after the injection. A sufficient amount of Gd was readily delivered into those two different model tumors. Increasing the dose of Gd by injecting the Gd-encapsulated liposomes multiple times tended to increase the uptake of the Gd by the tumors. Finally, the uptake of Gd by tumors was inversely correlated with the size of the tumors. The Gd-encapsulated liposomes hold great potentials as a Gd delivery system for NCT of small- and medium-size tumors. Alternative strategies may have to be adopted in order to use NCT to treat large, advanced solid tumors, although for which, Gd-NCT might be advantageous over boron-NCT.