Ayers Duncan, Nasti Alessandro
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine & Surgery, University of Malta, Msida MSD 2060, Malta.
J Drug Deliv. 2012;2012:265691. doi: 10.1155/2012/265691. Epub 2012 Nov 14.
The implementation of cytotoxic chemotherapeutic drugs in the fight against cancer has played an invariably essential role for minimizing the extent of tumour progression and/or metastases in the patient and thus allowing for longer event free survival periods following chemotherapy. However, such therapeutics are nonspecific and bring with them dose-dependent cumulative adverse effects which can severely exacerbate patient suffering. In addition, the emergence of innate and/or acquired chemoresistance to the exposed cytotoxic agents undoubtedly serves to thwart effective clinical efficacy of chemotherapy in the cancer patient. The advent of nanotechnology has led to the development of a myriad of nanoparticle-based strategies with the specific goal to overcome such therapeutic hurdles in multiple cancer conditions. This paper aims to provide a brief overview and recollection of all the latest advances in the last few years concerning the application of nanoparticle technology to enhance the safe and effective delivery of chemotherapeutic agents to the tumour site, together with providing possible solutions to circumvent cancer chemoresistance in the clinical setting.
细胞毒性化疗药物在抗癌斗争中的应用，对于将患者肿瘤进展和/或转移的程度降至最低，并因此在化疗后实现更长的无事件生存期，始终发挥着至关重要的作用。然而，这类疗法缺乏特异性，且会带来剂量依赖性的累积不良反应，严重加剧患者的痛苦。此外，对所接触的细胞毒性药物产生先天性和/或获得性化疗耐药性，无疑会阻碍化疗在癌症患者中的有效临床疗效。纳米技术的出现催生了众多基于纳米颗粒的策略，其特定目标是在多种癌症情况下克服此类治疗障碍。本文旨在简要概述和回顾过去几年纳米颗粒技术在增强化疗药物安全有效递送至肿瘤部位方面的所有最新进展，并提供在临床环境中规避癌症化疗耐药性的可能解决方案。
