Lethal drug combination: Arsenic loaded multiple drug mesoporous silica for theranostic applications

- A straightforward strategy is developed to integrate the cancer combinatorial therapy with nanotechnology.
- Compared to previous studies, substantially high (29%) loading of hydrophobic camptothecin is reported.
- Unconventional but FDA approved antitumor drug, arsenic trioxide (ATO) is conjugated onto the surface nanocarrier as second chemotherapeutic entity.
- Double drug nanoformulation exhibits an excellent cell inhibition performance.
- Presence of superparamagnetic magnetite nanocrystals empowers this system to be used as a contrast agent in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging besides drug carrier.