Cancer nanomedicine: from targeted delivery to combination therapy

Xiaoyang Xu; William Ho; Xueqing Zhang; Nicolas Bertrand; Omid Farokhzad

doi:10.1016/j.molmed.2015.01.001

Cancer nanomedicine: from targeted delivery to combination therapy

Trends Mol Med. 2015 Apr;21(4):223-32. doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2015.01.001. Epub 2015 Feb 2.

Authors

Xiaoyang Xu¹, William Ho², Xueqing Zhang², Nicolas Bertrand³, Omid Farokhzad⁴

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Biomaterials, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Chemical, Biological and Pharmaceutical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, USA. Electronic address: xiaoyang@njit.edu.
² Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Biomaterials, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
³ Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Biomaterials, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
⁴ Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Biomaterials, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: ofarokhzad@zeus.bwh.harvard.edu.

Abstract

The advent of nanomedicine marks an unparalleled opportunity to advance the treatment of various diseases, including cancer. The unique properties of nanoparticles (NPs), such as large surface-to-volume ratio, small size, the ability to encapsulate various drugs, and tunable surface chemistry, give them many advantages over their bulk counterparts. This includes multivalent surface modification with targeting ligands, efficient navigation of the complex in vivo environment, increased intracellular trafficking, and sustained release of drug payload. These advantages make NPs a mode of treatment potentially superior to conventional cancer therapies. This review highlights the most recent developments in cancer treatment using NPs as drug delivery vehicles, including promising opportunities in targeted and combination therapy.

Keywords: cancer; combination therapy; nanomedicine; targeted delivery.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use
Cell Line, Tumor
Combined Modality Therapy / methods*
Delayed-Action Preparations*
Disease Models, Animal
Drug Carriers / chemistry
Drug Carriers / pharmacology
Humans
Nanomedicine / methods*
Nanoparticles / chemistry
Neoplasms / therapy*
RNA Interference

Substances

Antineoplastic Agents
Delayed-Action Preparations
Drug Carriers

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding