title: Macrophages as Active Nanocarriers for Targeted Early and Adjuvant Cancer Chemotherapy.
abstract: Taking advantage of the highly permeable vasculature and lack of lymphatic drainage in solid tumors (EPR effect), nanosized drug delivery systems or nanomedicines have been extensively explored for tumor-targeted drug delivery. However, in most clinical cases tumors such as the early stage tumors and post-surgery microscopic residual tumors have not yet developed such pathological EPR features, i.e., EPR-deficient. Therefore, nanomedicines may not be applicable for such these tumors. Macrophages by nature can actively home and extravasate through the tight vascular wall into tumors and migrate to their hypoxic regions, and possess perfect stealth ability for long blood circulation and impressive phagocytosis for drug loadings. Thus, nanomedicines loaded in macrophages would harness both merits and gain the active tumor homing capability independent of the EPR effect for treatments of the EPR-deficient tumors. Herein, the critical considerations, current progress, challenges and future prospects of macrophages as carriers for nanomedicines are summarized, aiming at rational design of EPR-independent tumor-targeting active nanomedicines for targeted early and adjuvant cancer chemotherapy.
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310009, China.|Key Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Diagnosis and Individualized Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Clinical Research Institute, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, 310014, China.
authors: Jingxing
authors: J
authors: Si
authors: Center for Bionanoengineering and Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China.
authors: Shiqun
authors: S
authors: Shao
authors: Center for Bionanoengineering and Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China. shenyq@zju.edu.cn.
authors: Youqing
authors: Y
authors: Shen
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310009, China. kaiw@zju.edu.cn.
authors: Kai
authors: K
authors: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers
keywords: EPR effect; cancer drug delivery; cell carriers; macrophage; nanomedicine; tumor targeting