title: Liposomal cytokines in the treatment of infectious diseases and cancer.
abstract: Despite of the demonstrated activity of cytokines in vitro, their use in the clinical setting is often disappointing. Cytokine-related toxicity seriously limits optimal use in vivo. In addition, rapid degradation and excretion, neutralization and binding to receptors, or metabolization of the molecule results in a short half-life in serum when injected intravenously. As the dose-response curve of cytokines is relatively steep, outcome greatly benefits from improved delivery and bioavailability. One way to improve the pharmacokinetics of cytokines after systemic application is encapsulation in liposomes. An advantage of liposomes is that the encapsulated drug is protected from (rapid) degradation and excretion, and it eliminates the binding to neutralizing antibodies or (soluble) receptors. Moreover, liposomes can be tailored in such a way that they exhibit favorable pharmacokinetics, i.e., increased serum half-life and improved targeting to tissues or cells of interest. In this chapter, the use of liposomal cytokines in the treatment of cancer and infectious disease is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Timo L M
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: ten Hagen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004339:Drug Compounding; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008081:Liposomes; D008262:Macrophage Activation; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D016207:Cytokines; D007155:Immunologic Factors; D008081:Liposomes; D004317:Doxorubicin; D002945:Cisplatin