title: Paclitaxel drug delivery systems.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Paclitaxel (PTX) is one of the most effective broad-spectrum chemotherapeutic agents in the treatment of cancers. However, its clinical application has been limited due to its poor water solubility. Its current clinical administration uses the adjuvant of serious side effects and has undesired pharmacokinetics and biodistribution. There is, thus, a need for the development of alternate drug delivery systems of PTX to enhance its solubility, permeability and stability and further to promote a sustained, controlled and targeted delivery that will increase its therapeutic effects and reduce its side effects.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review is focused on recent developments of the various PTX delivery systems such as prodrugs, micelles, liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanoparticles of biodegradable polymers, dendrimers, nanohydrogels, as well as PTX-eluting stents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pharmaceutical nanotechnology can provide solutions to solve the problems encountered in drug formulation and drug delivery and may change the way drugs are made. The various nanocarriers could have high efficiency in drug encapsulation and cellular uptake, escape from elimination by microphages due to their appropriate size and surface modification and realize with ligand conjugation-targeted delivery.
authors.affiliation: Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Tongji School of Pharmacy and National Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Zhiping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.forename: Si-Shen
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Feng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; D004339:Drug Compounding; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D050997:Nanomedicine; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012995:Solubility; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D017239:Paclitaxel