Nanomedicine (Lond.) (Epub ahead of print) ISSN 1743-5889 part of Research Article 10.2217/nnm-2017-0040 © 2017 Future Medicine Ltd Aim: The development of surface-tailored quercetin (QCT)–salicylic acid (SA) physical complex for effective treatment of skin carcinoma. Materials & methods: QCT–SA nanomixed micelles were prepared by the self-assembly method employing the Quality by Design (QbD) approach and evaluated for various in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo parameters. Results: The optimized formulation showed enhanced percent permeation (Q 24 ), in other words, 78.12 ± 0.47, improved in vitro cellular uptake and annexin-V–apoptosis assay exhibited 60.86% cell death. The 7,12-dimethylbenz(a) anthracene and histopathology protocol revealed the improved antineoplastic action of QCT. The dermatokinetic profile showed the maximum drug concentration (6 h), in other words, 416.02 ± 26 μg/cm 2 in epidermis and 103.65 ± 12 μg/cm 2 in dermis. Conclusion: The overall performance ratified the safety and efficacy of optimized nanomixed micelless of QCT with SA in a synergistic manner. First draft submitted: 30 January 2017; Accepted for publication: 3 April 2017; Published online: 19 May 2017 Keywords:฀ apoptosis฀•฀histopathology฀•฀nanomicelles฀•฀physical฀complex฀•฀skin฀cancer Surface-tailored nanomixed micelles containing quercetin–salicylic acid physical complex for enhanced cellular and in vivo activities: a quality by design perspective Premjeet Singh Sandhu*** ,1,2,3 , Rajendra Kumar 1,4 , OP Katare** ,2,5 & Bhupinder Singh* ,1,2,3 1 UGC-Centre฀of฀Excellence฀in฀ Applications฀of฀Nanomaterials,฀ Nanoparticles฀&฀Nanocomposites,฀Panjab฀ University,฀Chandigarh฀160014,฀India 2 Division฀of฀Pharmaceutics,฀University฀ Institute฀of฀Pharmaceutical฀Sciences,฀ Panjab฀University,฀Chandigarh฀160014,฀ India 3 UGC-Centre฀of฀Advanced฀Studies฀(CAS),฀ Panjab฀University,฀Chandigarh฀160014,฀ India 4 Post฀Graduate฀Institute฀of฀Medical฀ Research฀&฀Education฀(PGIMER)฀Hospital,฀ Chandigarh฀160015,฀India 5 Research฀Promotion฀Cell,฀Panjab฀ University,฀Chandigarh฀160014,฀India *Author฀for฀correspondence:฀ bsbhoop@pu.ac.in bsbhoop@gmail.com **Author฀for฀correspondence:฀ dropkatare@yahoo.com director_research@pu.ac.in ***Author฀for฀correspondence:฀ pssandhu.rgtu@gmail.com premjeetsandhu27@gmail.com QbD-optimization Stirring for 5 min at 2000 RPM Incorporation in secondary gel QCT SA complex Nano micelles Aqueous phase Water + TritonX-100 Organic phase PL + T80 + EtOH + QCT + SCA Self assembly For reprint orders, please contact: reprints@futuremedicine.com