Compositions for delivery of drug combinations

1. A composition for treating cancer, which composition comprises liposomes, said liposomes having stably associated therewith at least a first antineoplastic agent and a second antineoplastic agent in a mole ratio of the first agent to the second agent which exhibits a synergistic cytotoxic or cytostatic effect on cancer cells in vitro,

wherein said stable association maintains, for at least one hour, said synergistic ratio of said agents in the blood when administered in vivo, and

wherein said synergistic ratio is such that when said ratio is provided to cancer cells relevant to said cancer in an in vitro assay over the concentration range at which the fraction of affected cells is 0.20 to 0.80, synergy is exhibited over at least 20% of said range;

wherein said liposomes comprise at least 10 mol% of a phospholipid selected from the group consisting of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylserine, sphingomyelin and combinations thereof and comprise 0-45 mol% cholesterol in composition in amounts that provide coordinated pharmacokinetics to said agents.

2. The composition of claim 1 wherein said liposomes have a mean diameter of between 4.5 and 500 nm.

3. The composition of claim 2 wherein said liposomes have a mean diameter of less than 250 nm.

4. The composition of claim 1 wherein said first and second agents are co-encapsulated.

5. The composition of claim 1 wherein at least one of the agents is selected from the group consisting of a DNA damaging agent, a DNA repair inhibitor, a topoisomerase I inhibitor, a topoisomerase II inhibitor, a cell checkpoint inhibitor, a CDK inhibitor, a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, a cytotoxic agent, an apoptosis inducing agent, an antimetabolite, a cell cycle control inhibitor, a therapeutic lipid, a telomerase inhibitor, an anti-angiogenic agent, a mitochondrial poison, a signal transduction inhibitor and an immunoagent.

6. The composition of claim 5 wherein the first agent is a cytotoxic agent and the second agent is a cell-cycle inhibitor, or

wherein the first agent is a DNA damaging agent and the second agent is a DNA repair inhibitor, or

wherein the first agent is a topoisomerase I inhibitor and the second agent is a S/G 2 - or a G 2 /M-checkpoint inhibitor, or

wherein the first agent is a G 1 /S checkpoint inhibitor or a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor and the second agent is a G 2 /M checkpoint inhibitor, or

wherein the first agent is a receptor kinase inhibitor and the second agent is a cytotoxic agent, or

wherein the first agent is an apoptosis-inducing agent and the second agent is a cytotoxic agent, or

wherein the first agent is an apoptosis-inducing agent and the second agent is a cell-cycle control agent, or

wherein the first agent is a telomerase inhibitor and the second agent is a cell-cycle control inhibitor, or

wherein the first and second agents are antimetabolites, or

wherein the first and second agents are cytotoxic agents, or

wherein the first agent is a therapeutic lipid and the second agent is a cytotoxic agent, or

wherein the first agent is a topoisomerase I inhibitor and the second agent is a DNA repair inhibitor, or

wherein the apoptosis-inducing agent is a serine-containing lipid.

7. The composition of claim 5

wherein the first agent is irinotecan and the second agent is 5-FU or FUDR, or

wherein the first agent is cisplatin (or carboplatin) and the second agent is 5-FU or FUDR, or

wherein the first agent is idarubicin and the second agent is AraC or FUDR, or

wherein the first agent is oxaliplatin and the second agent is 5-FU or FUDR, or

wherein the first agent is irinotecan and the second agent is cisplatin (or carboplatin), or

wherein the first agent is gemcitabine and the second agent is cisplatin (or carboplatin), or

wherein the first agent is methotrexate and the second agent is 5-FU or FUDR, or

wherein the first agent is paclitaxel and the second agent is cisplatin (or carboplatin), or

wherein the first agent is etoposide and the second agent is cisplatin (or carboplatin), or

wherein the first agent is docetaxel or paclitaxel and the second agent is doxorubicin, or

wherein the first agent is doxorubicin and the second agent is vinorelbine, or

wherein the first agent is carboplatin and the second agent is vinorelbine, or

wherein the first agent is 5-FU or FUDR and the second agent is gemcitabine.

8. A method to treat cancer in a subject which method comprises administering to a subject in need of such treatment a therapeutically effective amount of the composition of claim 1 .

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the subject is a human.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the subject is a non-human mammal.

11. The composition of claim 1 wherein said phospholipid is selected from the group consisting of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylserine wherein the fatty acids in said phospholipids contain 14, 16 or 18 carbons.

12. The composition of claim 1 wherein said liposomes comprise at least 55% of one or more of said phospholipids and the remainder of said liposomes consists of cholesterol or a phospholipid derivatized to polyethylene glycol.

13. A composition comprising liposomes, said liposomes having stably associated therewith at least a first antineoplastic agent and a second antineoplastic agent in a mole ratio which is synergistic over a concentration range in vitro,

which composition is prepared by a method which comprises

a) determining in a relevant in vitro cell culture assay for antineoplastic activity a mole ratio of said first agent to said second agent which is synergistic over at least 20% of the concentration range over which the fraction of cells affected by said ratio of agents is 0.2-0.8,

wherein said determining employs testing at least one ratio of said agents at a multiplicity of concentrations and applying an algorithm to calculate a synergistic, additive, or antagonistic effect for said ratio over a range of concentrations, and

b) stably associating with said liposomes a mole ratio of agents determined to be synergistic in step a), wherein the components and amounts of liposomal components are selected and combined in said liposomes such that when said composition is administered to a subject the administered synergistic ratio is maintained in the blood of the subject for at least one hour.