Abstract
Bladder cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality, yet current intravesical drug delivery methods often suffer from poor retention times in the bladder. Gecko feet-like nanomaterials offer the potential to overcome this challenge, however, conventional methods to fabricate high surface area nanomaterials for drug delivery involve complex and expensive manufacturing processes. In this work, a simple fluid flow templating method is reported for manufacturing soft dendritic particles (SDPs) composed of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) with a chitosan coating for enhanced adhesion to epithelial tissues via van der Waals interactions. The biodegradable SDPs encapsulate chemotherapeutic agents and are administered using an alginate hydrogel, enabling precise deposition by extrusion for sustained drug release. The results demonstrate that SDPs adhere to mouse and human cancer cells for several days. The SDPs effectively encapsulate and release several clinically utilized chemotherapeutic drugs such as gemcitabine, docetaxel, and methotrexate, exhibiting superior cancer cell killing in vitro. In murine models, gemcitabine-loaded SDPs instilled into tumor-bearing bladders elicited stronger CD45+ immune cell responses than control groups while maintaining minimal toxicity. This work presents a simple, biomimetic drug delivery platform with prolonged retention and controlled drug release, offering a versatile approach for enhancing therapeutic delivery in epithelial cancer models.