Amelioration of the therapeutic potential of gefitinib against breast cancer using nanostructured lipid carriers - supplementary dataset

Aim: This study aimed to improve the delivery and therapeutic potential of gefitinib (GTB) against breast cancer by preparing GTB-loaded, nanostructured lipid carriers (GTB-NLCs). Materials & methods: Box– Behnken design was used for optimization and GTB was loaded into NLCs using ultrasonication. The GTBNLCs were characterized using in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo studies. The anticancer efficacy of GTB-NLCs was evaluated using 3-(4,5-dimethythiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide cytotoxicity and flow cytometry on MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. Results: Optimized GTB-NLCs were successfully characterized and demonstrated improved internalization and enhanced cytotoxicity compared with plain GTB. Gut permeation studies showed enhanced intestinal permeability, and pharmacokinetic analysis revealed 2.6- fold improvement in GTB oral bioavailability. Conclusion: GTB-NLCs effectively enhanced the therapeutic potential of GTB against breast cancer.