Polymer-based drug delivery systems for cancer treatment

Abstract

This review is focused on the chemical design and synthesis of polymer‐based drug delivery systems, in particular with stimuli‐responsive nanoplatforms for cancer treatment. We provide a brief description of the properties, synthesis and advantages of amphiphilic block copolymers, including polyether‐polyester and polyether‐polyanhydride. As for stimuli‐responsive polymers, we detail the recent innovative techniques for constructing smarter, more precise and optimally tuned nanocarriers that release drug in the disease site. This review is presented in the context of polymer science research, with special attention focused on the tailor‐made polymers containing specific chemical functionalities. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016, 54, 3525–3550

Boron Dipyrromethene Nano‐Photosensitizers for Anticancer Phototherapies

“…Polymeric NPs, owing to their low CMC value, and adaptable compositions, sizes, and surface properties, are potentially suitable drug carriers in therapeutic fields. Naturally, extracted or synthetic polymers, such as polypeptides, polycaprolactone (PCL), polylactic acid (PLA), and PEG, have been widely used in constructing nanocarriers . In most cases, the core–shell structure of polymeric nanoparticles comprises a hydrophilic surface layer for stabilizing in blood circulation and a hydrophobic interior core for loading therapeutic agents including anticancer drugs or PSs .…”

“…Polymeric NPs can sense and respond to environmental changes via different chemical and physical mechanisms that often originate from dynamic hierarchical architectures . Internal triggers, including pH, redox potential, temperature, and ionic strength permit temporally and spatially controlled drug delivery . For instance, pH responsiveness is one of the most extensively exploited triggers, as pH values vary between different tissues and cellular compartments.…”

Generating Triple Crystalline Superstructures in Melt Miscible PEO‐b‐PCL‐b‐PLLA Triblock Terpolymers by Controlling Thermal History and Sequential Crystallization

“…To name a few, block copoly mers have been used in biomedical applications, cell adhesion coatings, drug delivery, nanotechnology, stimuli responsive nanostructured materials, nanoparticles, lithography, patterning and templating in optoelectronics devices, and hydrogels. [5][6][7][8] Therefore, understanding the morphology and overall crystallinity is essential for both basic and applied poly mer science. [1,5,[9][10][11][12] The final structure, crystallization, and physical properties are not only determined by the crystallization conditions but also by the microstructure, chemical nature, molecular weight, block composition, and miscibility or segrega tion between blocks.…”

Star Polymers from Single‐Chain Cyclized/Knotted Nanoparticles as a Core

“…With a 3D structure consisting of a central core and multiple radiating linear “arms”, star polymers represent a broad type of branched macromolecular architecture . Due to the spatially defined “core‐shell‐periphery” architecture, star polymers have demonstrated their superiority in a variety of applications such as drug delivery, gene therapy, molecular imaging, antibacterial agents, and many others. In general, there are three different types of modalities for star polymer synthesis: the core‐first, arm‐first, and grafting‐onto approaches .…”

“…[1] In the core-first methodology, a presynthesized multifunctional initiator is utilized as a core to divergently grow the linear arms. However, only low arm numbers (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8) and a small core domain can be achieved. In addition, the arm polymers cannot be characterized directly.…”