A 3D numerical model of controlled drug delivery to solid tumor by means of mild microwave hyperthermia-activated thermo-sensitive liposomes

A computational 3D analysis of liposomal drug delivery to investigate the effectiveness of this innovative therapy as an alternative to conventional chemotherapy is shown in this study. The temperature field evolution is obtained via the Local Thermal Non-Equilibrium (LTNE) bioheat model by including both variable porosity and blood vessels sizes to describe the local structure of the investigated tissue. Heating is induced by means of a microwave antenna directly inserted in tumor tissue, supplying a pulsating power to avoid tissue necrosis. Interstitial flow and drug diffusion are modeled by means of Darcy's law and convection-diffusion equations, respectively; Starling's law is included to simulate transcapillary exchange. After validating the model with available literature data, the results show that liposomal drug delivery leads to a 10% improvement in therapeutic outcomes (i.e., Fraction of Killed Cells, FKC). It is also proved that considering blood flow in the LTNE porous media model yields a more realistic evolution of drug diffusion and subsequent FKC, while severe tissue damage is avoided because of the pulsating power supply. This study highlights the potential benefits of using liposomal drug delivery in cancer chemotherapy via microwave-induced heating.