Preparation and evaluation of spherical porous granules of octacalcium phosphate/hydroxyapatite as drug carriers in bone cancer treatment

摘要

Spherical porous granules composed of octacalcium phosphate (OCP) and hydroxyapatite (HA) are predicted to be useful as drug carriers for treating bone cancer. We successfully prepared spherical porous OCP/HA granules by immersing α-tricalcium phosphate spherical granules in a pH 5.0 buffered solution at 60 ℃. When human osteosarcoma (HOS) cells were cultured in the medium in which the methotrexate-loaded granules were immersed, cell proliferation was significantly inhibited. The release of methotrexate from the granules continued for at least 48 h. On the other hand, the medium immersed in the methotrexate-free granules did not inhibit the cell proliferation. These results suggest that the spherical porous OCP/HA granules are safe and act as drug carriers releasing the drugs continuously.