In Vitro Anticancer Evaluation of Tamoxifen and Paclitaxel-Loaded Chitosan Nanoparticles Against Breast and Lung Cancer with In Silico Docking

Arshia Amaan, Clinico-Molecular Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, University of Agriculture, 38040-Faisalabad, PakistanFollow
Farah Mehak, Clinico-Molecular Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, University of Agriculture, 38040-Faisalabad, PakistanFollow
Amer Jamil, Molecular Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, University of Agriculture, 38040-Faisalabad, PakistanFollow
Fatma Hussain, Clinico-Molecular Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, University of Agriculture, 38040-Faisalabad, PakistanFollow

Abstract

Breast and lung cancer are the primary cause of death worldwide, underlining the need for an improved therapeutic strategy. In the current study, tamoxifen (TAM) and paclitaxel (PTX) loaded chitosan nanoparticles (NPs) were produced for the evaluation of sustained drug delivery and enhanced anticancer potential of nanocarriers over conventional chemotherapy against breast and lung cancers, respectively. Nanoparticles were produced by the ionic gelation method and characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, Dynamic Light Scattering and Fourier Transform Infrared Microscopy (FTIR), verifying the nanoscale morphology, stability and successful encapsulation. A drug release profile study (in vitro) (78 %, 60-75 %) and encapsulation efficacy (83.2 %, 79 %) indicated sustainable release and efficient drug loading. MTT assay indicated TAM-NPs exhibited stronger anticancer activity on MCF-7 cells with IC50 value 36.38 ± 0.87 µg/mL, compared to free tamoxifen (39.31 ± 2.3 µg/mL). Similarly, PTX-CNPs exhibited enhanced antiproliferative effect on NSCLC cell lines exhibiting IC50 value 31.32 ± 1.73 µg/mL compared to the free paclitaxel (35.21 ± 0.04 µg/mL). The experiment was carried out in triplicate. The data were expressed as mean ± S.D, using one-way ANOVA (p = 0.001, p = 0.003). In silico docking analysis provided the receptor-ligand interactions and binding affinities of tamoxifen with estrogen receptor alpha (3ETR) and paclitaxel with 1JFF beta-tubulin through docking. In vitro results and supportive in silico qualitative analysis suggested that the tamoxifen and paclitaxel-loaded chitosan nanoparticles carrier system has a potentially enhanced effect on breast cancer and lung cancer treatment.

Article History

Received: May 14, 2026; Accepted: May 26, 2026; Published: June 30, 2026.

Recommended Citation

Amaan, A., Mehak, F., Jamil, A., & Hussain, F. (2026). In Vitro Anticancer Evaluation of Tamoxifen and Paclitaxel-Loaded Chitosan Nanoparticles Against Breast and Lung Cancer with In Silico Docking, Journal of Bioresource Management, 13 (2).

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