title: Barriers to carrier mediated drug and gene delivery to brain tumors.
abstract: Brain tumor patients face a poor prognosis despite significant advances in tumor imaging, neurosurgery and radiation therapy. Potent chemotherapeutic drugs fail when used to treat brain tumors because biochemical and physiological barriers limit drug delivery into the brain. In the past decade a number of strategies have been introduced to increase drug delivery into the brain parenchyma. In particular, direct drug administration into the brain tumor has shown promising results in both animal models and clinical trials. This technique is well suited for the delivery of liposome and polymer drug carriers, which have the potential to provide a sustained level of drug and to reach cellular targets with improved specificity. We will discuss the current approaches that have been used to increase drug delivery into the brain parenchyma in the context of fluid and solute transport into, through and from the brain, with a focus on liposome and polymer drug carriers.
authors.affiliation: Joint Graduate Group in Bioengineering, University of California at San Francisco and Berkeley San Francisco, CA 94143-0446, United States.
authors.forename: Grace H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Huynh
authors.affiliation: Brain Tumor Research Center of the Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143-0520, United States.
authors.forename: Dennis F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Deen
authors.affiliation: Joint Graduate Group in Bioengineering, University of California at San Francisco and Berkeley San Francisco, CA 94143-0446, United States; Departments of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Biopharmaceutical Sciences, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143-0446, United States. Electronic address: szoka@cgl.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Francis C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Szoka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D004247:DNA / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004337:Drug Carriers; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008081:Liposomes
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers; D008081:Liposomes; D004247:DNA