UCLA

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most prevalent cancer worldwide. For most HNSCC patients with locally advanced disease, platinum-based drugs, especially cisplatin, remain the gold standard to reduce the risk of recurrence and improve survival rate. Drug resistance, however, is the main issue obstructing the optimum cisplatin therapeutic efficiency. In this dissertation research, two auxiliary systems were designed to overcome the cisplatin resistance in HNSCC. The first system loaded a small molecule drug with high therapeutic efficacy into polymer microparticles. Upon the intratumoral injection through microneedle, a local and sustained release was achieved, leading to suppressed proliferation, inhibited migration, and promoted apoptosis of cancer cells. The second system involves the design of a novel enzyme delivery system to target tumor microenvironment, which not only reduces cancer cell viability, migration, and invasion, but also activates immune response. The strategies described in this dissertation research can be extended to other small molecule drugs or therapeutic proteins for cancer therapies beyond cisplatin-resistant HNSCC, providing a platform for more effective cancer therapy.