Objective To evaluate the effects of curcumin (CUR) combined with BMS-202 as the lipid core in the formulation of nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) on triple negative breast cancer cells.

Methods Liposomes co-loaded with CUR/BMS-202 (CUR/BMS-202-NLC) were prepared. In vitro, the MDA-MB-231 cells were divided into the control group, free CUR/BMS-202 group, blank-NLC group and CUR/BMS-202-NLC group. The effects of CUR/BMS-202-NLC on the viability, colony formation and metastasis of MDA-MB-231 cells were investigated by MTT assay, colony formation assay and Transwell assay in vitro. MDA-MB-231 cells were injected subcutaneously into the right dorsal side of female nude mice to construct a tumor-bearing BALB/c mouse model. The mice were randomly divided into the control group, CUR-NLC group, BMS- 202-NLC group and CUR/BMS-202-NLC group (8 rats each group). Tumor size and body weight were monitored every two days for 22 days. Tumors were taken for immunohistochemical analysis of CD8 and CD4 expression. The serum levels of TNF-α, INF-γ and IL-1β in four groups were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results Compared with the Blank-NLC, the colony formation and cell migration number of MDA-MB-231 in CUR/BMS-202-NLC significantly reduced (P ＜ 0.05). Compared with the CUR-NLC group and BMS-202-NLC group, the CUR/BMS-202-NLC group showed a higher tumor growth inhibition rate. In addition, the tumor-infiltrating CD4 and CD8 staining areas increased, and the serum levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ and IL-1β were the highest in the CUR/BMS-202-NLC-treated mice.

Conclusions CUR/BMS-202-NLC has potential application value in the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer.