Amelioration of the therapeutic potential of gefitinib against breast cancer using nanostructured lipid carriers - supplementary dataset

<b>Aim: </b>This study aimed to improve the delivery and therapeutic potential of gefitinib (GTB) against breast cancer by preparing GTB-loaded, nanostructured lipid carriers (GTB-NLCs). <b>Materials &amp; methods: </b>Box– Behnken design was used for optimization and GTB was loaded into NLCs using ultrasonication. The GTBNLCs were characterized using <i>in vitro</i>, <i>ex vivo </i>and <i>in vivo </i>studies. The anticancer efficacy of GTB-NLCs was evaluated using 3-(4,5-dimethythiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide cytotoxicity and flow cytometry on MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. <b>Results: </b>Optimized GTB-NLCs were successfully characterized and demonstrated improved internalization and enhanced cytotoxicity compared with plain GTB. Gut permeation studies showed enhanced intestinal permeability, and pharmacokinetic analysis revealed 2.6- fold improvement in GTB oral bioavailability. <b>Conclusion: </b>GTB-NLCs effectively enhanced the therapeutic potential of GTB against breast cancer.