Lipid nanoparticles have become attractive for its prominent properties recent years. In this paper, in vivo anti-tumor efficacy of nanostructured lipid carrier of dihydroartemisinin （DHA-NLC） were evaluated in sarcoma 180-bearing mice model through intraperitoneal （i.p.） administration. In vivo biodistribution was also investigated in Kunming mice bearing S180. Results demonstrated that the intraperitoneally injected DHA-NLC could significantly inhibit tumor growth at the dose levels of 20, 40 and 80 mg/kg, and their inhibition rates were 71.24%, 79.20% and 85.74%, respectively. The biodistribution of DHA after intraperitoneal injection of DHA-NLC in S180-bearing mice is remarkably different from the DHA solution. Therefore, DHA encapsulated in NLC does demonstrate superior anticancer effect to DHA suspension on S 180-bearing mice at the same dose and displayed a dose-dependent antitumor efficacy.
