Nanostructuring a Widely Used Antiworm Drug into the Lipid-Coated Calcium Phosphate Matrix for Enhanced Skin Tumor Treatment

Recently, a widely used antiworm drug albendazole (ABZ) has been recognized as an anticancer drug, while being safe for healthy cells. However, its clinical application is limited due to low water solubility. In this work, we incorporated ABZ into pH-responsive lipid-coated calcium phosphate (LCP) nanoparticles to enhance anticancer efficacy. LCP–ABZ nanoparticles doubled the ABZ solubility with a much quicker release rate in the slightly acidic environment. LCP–ABZ significantly improved cytotoxicity to B16F0 cells and reduced their migration probably through enhanced apoptosis induction via reactive oxygen species overproduction. In a B16F0-bearing mouse models, LCP–ABZ nanoparticles reduced the tumor size by 50–60% at the total dose of only 15 mg (ABZ)/kg, more effective than commercial albendazole and other ABZ nanoparticles. Overall, this research demonstrated LCP nanoparticle as an effective platform to deliver ABZ for cancer therapy, with safety to healthy tissues and the potential to inhibit metastasis.