Liposome is an ideal drug carrier with many advantages such as excellent biocompatibility, non-immunogenicity, and easy functionalization, and has been used for the clinical treatment of many diseases including tumors. For the treatment of tumors, liposome has some passive targeting capability, but the passive targeting effect alone is very limited in improving the drug enrichment in tumor tissues, and active targeting is an effective strategy to improve the drug enrichment. Therefore, active targeting liposome drug-carriers have been extensively studied for decades. In this paper, we review the research progresses on active targeting liposome drug-carriers based on the specific binding of the carriers to the surface of tumor cells, and summarize the opportunities, challenges and future prospects in this field.
Drug Carriers/therapeutic use* ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Humans ; Liposomes/therapeutic use* ; Neoplasms/drug therapy*

Currently, the first-line drugs for invasive fungal infections (IFI), such as amphotericin B, fluconazole and itraconazole, have drawbacks including poor water solubility, low bioavailability, and severe side effects. Using drug delivery systems is a promising strategy to improve the efficacy and safety of traditional antifungal therapy. Synthetic and biomimetic carriers have greatly facilitated the development of targeted delivery systems for antifungal drugs. Synthetic carrier drug delivery systems, such as liposomes, nanoparticles, polymer micelles, and microspheres, can improve the physicochemical properties of antifungal drugs, prolong their circulation time, enhance targeting capabilities, and reduce toxic side effects. Cell membrane biomimetic drug delivery systems, such as macrophage or red blood cell membrane-coated drug delivery systems, retain the membrane structure of somatic cells and confer various biological functions and specific targeting abilities to the loaded antifungal drugs, exhibiting better biocompatibility and lower toxicity. This article reviews the development of antifungal drug delivery systems and their application in the treatment of IFI, and also discusses the prospects of novel biomimetic carriers in antifungal drug delivery.
Antifungal Agents/therapeutic use* ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Amphotericin B/therapeutic use* ; Liposomes/chemistry* ; Nanoparticles ; Drug Carriers

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a malignant tumor of the digestive tract with poor patient prognosis. The PC incidence is still increasing with a 5-year survival rate of only 10%. At present, surgical resection is the most effective method to treat PC, however, 80% of the patients missed the best time for surgery after they have been diagnosed as PC. Chemotherapy is one of the main treating methods but PC is insensitive to chemotherapy, prone to drug resistance, and is accompanied by many side effects which are related to a lack of specific target. Exosomes are nanoscale vesicles secreted by almost all cell types and can carry various bioactive substances which mediate cell communication and material transport. They are characterized by a low immunogenicity, low cytotoxicity, high penetration potential and homing capacity, and possess the potential of being used as advanced drug carriers. Therefore, it is a hot research topic to use drug-loaded exosomes for tumor therapy. They may alleviate chemotherapy resistance, reduce side effects, and enhance the curative effect. In recent years, exosome drug carriers have achieved considerable results in PC chemotherapy studies.
Humans ; Exosomes/metabolism* ; Drug Carriers/metabolism* ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/diagnosis* ; Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use*

Many phytochemicals show promise in cancer prevention and treatment, but their low aqueous solubility, poor stability, unfavorable bioavailability, and low target specificity make administering them at therapeutic doses unrealistic. This is particularly true for (-)-epigallocatechin gallate, curcumin, quercetin, resveratrol, and genistein. There is an increasing interest in developing novel delivery strategies for these natural products. Liposomes, micelles, nanoemulsions, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carriers and poly (lactide-co-glycolide) nanoparticles are biocompatible and biodegradable nanoparticles. Those nanoparticles can increase the stability and solubility of phytochemicals, exhibit a sustained release property, enhance their absorption and bioavailability, protect them from premature enzymatic degradation or metabolism, prolong their circulation time, improve their target specificity to cancer cells or tumors via passive or targeted delivery, lower toxicity or side-effects to normal cells or tissues through preventing them from prematurely interacting with the biological environment, and enhance anti-cancer activities. Nanotechnology opens a door for developing phytochemical-loaded nanoparticles for prevention and treatment of cancer.
Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Drug Carriers ; Humans ; Materials Testing ; Nanoparticles ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Phytochemicals ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Plant Extracts ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use

The application of nanotechnology significantly benefits clinical practice in cancer diagnosis, treatment, and management. Especially, nanotechnology offers a promise for the targeted delivery of drugs, genes, and proteins to tumor tissues and therefore alleviating the toxicity of anticancer agents in healthy tissues. This article reviews current nanotechnology platforms for anticancer drug delivery, including polymeric nanoparticles, liposomes, dendrimers, nanoshells, carbon nanotubes, superparamagnetic nanoparticles, and nucleic acid-based nanoparticles [DNA, RNA interference (RNAi), and antisense oligonucleotide (ASO)] as well as nanotechnologies for combination therapeutic strategies, for example, nanotechnologies combined with multidrug-resistance modulator, ultrasound, hyperthermia, or photodynamic therapy. This review raises awareness of the advantages and challenges for the application of these therapeutic nanotechnologies, in light of some recent advances in nanotechnologic drug delivery and cancer therapy.
Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Dendrimers ; therapeutic use ; Drug Carriers ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; drug effects ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; drug effects ; Humans ; Liposomes ; therapeutic use ; Magnetite Nanoparticles ; therapeutic use ; Nanoparticles ; therapeutic use ; Nanoshells ; therapeutic use ; Nanotechnology ; trends ; Nanotubes, Carbon ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Polymers ; therapeutic use

OBJECTIVETo study the therapeutic effect of chitosan-coated basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) slow-releasing microspheres on the knee osteoarthritis in the rabbit.

METHODSFrom November 2008 to July 2009, 54 New Zealand rabbits were divided into 6 groups at random, which were the control group, the model group, the PBS-M group, the bFGF-S group, the 10-bFGF-M group and the 100-bFGF-M group, respectively. The model of knee osteoarthritis was induced by the injection of papain in the rabbit. Except the control and model groups, all the experimental groups were implanted 1 ml intervention solution at the third and sixth weeks, including the PBS microspheres, bFGF solution, 10 µg bFGF microspheres and 100 µg bFGF microspheres, respectively. The rabbits were sacrificed at the ninth week after operation, and then articular cartilage was conducted the morphological and histopathological evaluation.

RESULTSThe damage of articular cartilage in the model group was more serious than that in the control group, with statistical differences according to the Ink score (t = 8.22, P = 0.00) and Mankin score (t = 17.20, P = 0.00). The damage of articular cartilage in the PBS-M and bFGF-S groups were similar with that in the model group, according to the Ink score (t = 0.26, P = 0.79; t = 0.80, P = 0.45) and Mankin score (t = 1.51, P = 0.17; t = 0.56, P = 0.60). The Ink and Mankin scores in the 10-bFGF-M and 100-bFGF-M groups were better than that in the model group (Ink score: t = 3.58, P = 0.01; t = 6.82, P = 0.00; Mankin score: t = 3.41, P = 0.01; t = 5.00, P = 0.00), with the 100-bFGF-M group much better (t = 5.29, P = 0.00; t = 2.80, P = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONSThe bFGF slow-releasing microsphere can keep its effective intra-articular concentration, which may accelerate the synthesis of proteoglycan and inhibit its decomposition to reverse the damage of articular cartilage.

Animals ; Drug Carriers ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Injections, Intra-Articular ; Microspheres ; Osteoarthritis, Knee ; therapy ; Rabbits

Graphene is a kind of atomic crystal with two-dimensional polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons planes, which is of great concern in various fields. This paper reviews the latest development of graphene-based materials in biomedical research fields in the recent years, including in vitro and in vivo toxicity, drug loading, targeting controlled release, as well as photodynamic therapy. These researches validate that the graphene-based materials indicate promising prospects in the application to biomedicine.
Animals ; Biocompatible Materials ; Drug Carriers ; Graphite ; chemistry ; therapeutic use ; toxicity ; Humans ; Nanoparticles ; Neoplasms ; therapy ; Oxides ; chemistry ; therapeutic use ; toxicity ; Photochemical Processes ; Phototherapy ; methods

OBJECTIVETo prepare long-circulating liposome (LCL) for sustained release of nolatrexed dihydrochloride and evaluate the effect of this preparation against the growth of hepatocarcinoma cells in mice.

METHODSThe long-circulating nolatrexed dihydrochloride liposome was prepared by film dispersion-extrusion combined with ammonium sulphate gradient method. Amphipathic polyethylene glycol-distearoyl phosphatidylethanolamine (PEG-DSPE) was added to modify the property of the liposome membrane. The drug entrapment efficiency of the nolatrexed dihydrochloride-containing liposome was determined using UV detector with Sephadex G50. Electron microscopy and laser particle analyzer were employed to determine the size of the nolatrexed dihydrochloride liposome. For in vivo evaluation of the effect of the liposomal preparation, H22 mouse hepatoma carcinoma cells were transplanted subcutaneouly in mice in the axillary region of the right hind limb to induce growth of solid tumors, which were evaluated for tumor weight inhibition rate and tumor volume changes after administration of the LCL preparations.

RESULTSThe mean diameter of the long-circulating nolatrexed dihydrochloride liposomes was 109 nm, with an entrapment efficiency of 68.5%. In vivo antitumor experiment showed that both the common liposomal and LCL preparations of nolatrexed dihydrochloride produced antitumor effect in vivo, and the latter had weaker antitumor effect than free and common liposomal preparation of nolatrexed dihydrochloride, but in the long term, the LCL preparation showed stronger antitumor effect with a tumor weight inhibition rate of 41.68%.

CONCLUSIONLCL allows sustained release of nolatrexed dihydrochloride in vivo, and may effectively lengthen the relatively short half life of this drug after administration.

Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; therapeutic use ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; therapeutic use ; Drug Carriers ; Drug Compounding ; methods ; Liposomes ; chemistry ; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental ; drug therapy ; Mice ; Quinazolines ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; therapeutic use

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles as drug carrier have become the new hot point in the field of biomedical application in recent years. This review focuses on the more recent developments and achievements on experimental design aspect of mesoporous silica nanoparticles with cancer diagnosis and therapy. The key advances of functionalization strategies of mesoporous silica nanoparticles with controlled release, tumor targeting and overcoming multidrug resistance are discussed in particular. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles as unique delivery systems have the potential to provide significantly a sound platform for cancer theranostic application.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; Drug Carriers ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; Humans ; Nanoparticles ; Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Porosity ; Silicon Dioxide

Liposomes which offer the advantage of the enhanced drug accumulation at tumor sites are currently applied extensively in the clinical treatment of tumor. However, accumulation of the liposomes in the tumor area cannot guarantee the drug bioavailability. To resolve the question, thermosensitive targeting liposomes (TTL) have been the hotspot of current studies. TTL can enhance drug accumulation at tumor sites and be triggered to release their contents upon hyperthermia. By applying these two strategies, antitumor efficacy of encapsulated drug can be significantly improved. The present paper reviews the development of TTL in recent years.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Drug Carriers ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Humans ; Hyperthermia, Induced ; Liposomes ; administration & dosage ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy