Polymeric carriers for anticancer drugs

Abstract

Chemotherapy together with debulking surgery is a major treatment for cancer. There are, however, major limitations of conventional cytotoxic drugs that result from their nonspecific toxicity (e.g., the lack of selectivity) in the body and the intrinsic or acquired multidrug resistance (MDR) of cancer cells. To this end, polymeric drug carriers have been developed to address this nonspecificity and MDR [1]. It is believed that these drug carriers alter the biodistribution and increase the bioavailability of incorporated anticancer agents to the target cells [2]. © 2009 Springer-Verlag New York.