Polysaccharide Colloids as Smart Vehicles in Cancer Therapy

Title:Polysaccharide Colloids as Smart Vehicles in Cancer Therapy

Volume: 21 Issue: 33

Author(s): Carlos Caro and David Pozo

Affiliation:

Keywords: Cancer therapy, drug delivery, EPR effect, in vivo therapy, non-viral vectors.

Abstract: Cancer disease is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with approximately 14 million new cases and around 8 million cancer-related deaths yearly. Estimates expect to increase these figures over the next few years. Therefore, it is very important to develop more effective and targeted therapies. Polysaccharides are widely used for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications due to their interesting properties, and can be utilised in the production of nanovehicles for drug delivery, since they frequently extend the half-life and improve the stability of chemotherapeutic agents in bloodstream allowing them to reach the tumour tissue. Moreover, polysaccharide-based nanovehicles are generally expected to increase the therapeutic benefit by reducing the undesired side effects and promoting a more efficient cellular uptake. Here, we highlight the application of various polysaccharides as nanovehicles in cancer therapy, focusing mainly on in vivo applications and describing the main advantages of each designed system in a critical way. The use of different polysaccharides interacting with metal nanoparticles to develop new nanovehicles for cancer therapy will also be discussed.

Cite this article as:

Caro Carlos and Pozo David, Polysaccharide Colloids as Smart Vehicles in Cancer Therapy, Current Pharmaceutical Design 2015; 21 (33) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1381612821666150820100812