In spite of the clinical usefulness of cisplatin (CDDP), there are many occasions in which it is difficult to continue the administration of CDDP due to its nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity. We examined the incorporation of CDDP into polymeric micelles to see if this allowed the resolution of these disadvantages. Cisplatin was incorporated into polymeric micelles through the polymer–metal complex formation between polyethylene glycol poly(glutamic acid) block copolymers and CDDP (NC-6004). The pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and toxicity studies of CDDP and NC-6004 were conducted in rats or mice. The particle size of NC-6004 was approximately 30 nm, with a narrow size distribution. In rats, the area under the curve and total body clearance values for NC-6004 were 65-fold and one-nineteenth the values for CDDP (P<0.001 and 0.01, respectively). In MKN-45-implanted mice, NC-6004 tended to show antitumour activity, which was comparable to or greater than that of CDDP. Histopathological and biochemical studies revealed that NC-6004 significantly inhibited the nephrotoxicity of CDDP. On the other hand, blood biochemistry revealed transient hepatotoxicity on day 7 after the administration of NC-6004. Furthermore, rats given CDDP showed a significant delay (P<0.05) in sensory nerve conduction velocity in their hind paws as compared with rats given NC-6004. Electron microscopy in rats given CDDP indicated the degeneration of the sciatic nerve, but these findings were not seen in rats given NC-6004. These results were presumably attributable to the significantly reduced accumulation of platinum in nerve tissue when NC-6004 was administered (P<0.05). NC-6004 preserved the antitumour activity of CDDP and reduced its nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity, which would therefore seem to suggest that NC-6004 could allow the long-term administration of CDDP where caution against hepatic dysfunction must be exercised.

Cisplatin-incorporating polymeric micelles (NC-6004) can reduce nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity of cisplatin in rats