title: Recent progress in the development of polysaccharide conjugates of docetaxel and paclitaxel.
abstract: Taxanes are one of the most potent and broadest spectrum chemotherapeutics used clinically, but also induce significant side effects. Different strategies have been developed to produce a safer taxane formulation. Development of polysaccharide drug conjugates has increased in the recent years because of the demonstrated biocompatibility, biodegradability, safety, and low cost of the biopolymers. This review focuses on polysaccharide-taxane conjugates and provides an overview on various conjugation strategies and their effect on the efficacy. Detailed analyses on the designing factors of an effective polysaccharide-drug conjugate are provided with a discussion on the future direction of this field. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article.
authors.affiliation: Drug Delivery and Formulation, Drug Discovery Program, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Aniruddha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: Mousumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bhattacharyya
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ernsting
authors.forename: Jonathan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: May
authors.forename: Shyh-Dar
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical / Q000639:trends*; D000077143:Docetaxel; D006801:Humans; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000737:chemistry*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry*; D043823:Taxoids / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D011134:Polysaccharides; D043823:Taxoids; D000077143:Docetaxel; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid; D017239:Paclitaxel