Liposome Applications in Cancer Therapy - Doing New Tricks to Old Drugs.

Year
2009
Authors
Alberto A. Gabizon
Institutions
Shaare Zedek Medical Center and Hebrew University-School of Medicine, Jerusalem, 91031, Israel albertog@ekmd.huji.ac.il
Summary

Liposome-based systems offer a vast array of potential applications in the delivery of cancer chemotherapeutic agents. Provided liposome composition and drug entrapment are properly engineered, major changes in the pharmacokinetics and biodistribution can be obtained. The pharmacodynamic impact of these changes may alter the toxiciy profile and significantly improve the therapeutic index of the entrapped drug. Although liposomal doxorubicin has already found a place in routine clinical use, the potential of liposomal drug delivery remains so far under-exploited.