Surface-active liposomes for targeted cancer therapy.
An overview of liposome-based drug-delivery carriers to cancer cells is presented. Properties related to interfacial interactions between liposomes and the biological milieu that determine the fate of liposomes in vivo are discussed. Original approaches to improve specificity for the target and to control the structural responsiveness of liposomes, depending on their immediate environment, with the aim of enhancing the delivered therapeutic doses, are summarized. This review is not exhaustive on research examples of liposomes as carriers for cancer therapy but, rather, aims to describe major directions of designs and strategies over recent years. The current therapeutic trends that exhibit increasingly higher complexity in structures and responses are also discussed.
Sofou
Stavroula
S
Polytechnic University, Laboratory for Drug Delivery Systems, Othmer-Jacobs Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Brooklyn, NY, USA. ssofou@poly.edu
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008081:Liposomes / Q000737:chemistry*; D050997:Nanomedicine / Q000379:methods*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D008081:Liposomes