Functional liposomes in the cancer-targeted drug delivery

Abstract

Cancer is considered as one of the most severe health problems and is currently the third most common cause of death in the world after heart and infectious diseases. Novel therapies are constantly being discovered, developed and trialed. Many of the current anticancer agents exhibit non-ideal pharmaceutical and pharmacological properties and are distributed non-specifically throughout the body. This results in death of the both normal healthy and malignant cells and substantially leads to accruing a variety of serious toxic side effects. Therefore, the efficient systemic therapy of cancer is almost impossible due to harmful side effects of anticancer agents to the healthy organs and tissues. Furthermore, several problems such as low bioavailability of the drugs, low drug concentrations at the site of action, lack of drug specificity and drug-resistance also cause many restrictions on clinical applications of these drugs in the tumor therapy. Different types of the liposomal formulations have been used in medicine due to their distinctive advantages associated with their structural flexibility in the encapsulation of various agents with different physicochemical properties. They can also mediate delivery of the cargo to the appropriate cell type and subcellular compartment, reducing the effective dosage and possible side effects which are related to high systemic concentrations. Therefore, these novel systems were found very promising and encouraging dosage forms for the treatment of different types of cancer by increasing efficiency and reducing the systemic toxicity due to the specific drug delivery and targeting.

Nanoformulations of a Potent copper-based Aquaporin Inhibitor With Cytotoxic Effect Against Cancer Cells

“…Liposomes are widely recognized the drug delivery system that may allow the minimization of drawbacks commonly presented by various anticancer agents, including metallodrugs, such as drug instability and reactivity [28]. They are also able to protect the incorporated drugs from premature degradation/metabolization, while keeping their therapeutic activity [25,[29][30][31] . In addition, liposomes mimic cellular membranes conferring biocompatibility and biodegradability and may allow their accumulation at tumor sites characterized by impaired lymphatic function [32,33].…”

Indole-3-Carbinol Synergizes with and Restores Fludarabine Sensitivity in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Cells Irrespective of p53 Activity and Treatment Resistances

“…In this case, the percentage of viable cells was calculated considering the control value as 100% viability. (35,36).…”

Glutathione disulfide liposomes – A research tool for the study of glutathione disulfide associated functions and dysfunctions

“…Liposomes consist of an aqueous core surrounded by one or multiple bilayers composed of natural or synthetic lipids [14], [15], [16], [17]. The lipids are biologically inert and weakly immunogenic with low toxicity [14], [15], [16], [17].…”