Polymer implants for intratumoral drug delivery and cancer therapy.

Abstract

To address the need for minimally invasive treatment of unresectable tumors, intratumoral polymer implants have been developed to release a variety of chemotherapeutic agents for the locoregional therapy of cancer. These implants, also termed "polymer millirods," were designed to provide optimal drug release kinetics to improve drug delivery efficiency and antitumor efficacy when treating unresectable tumors. Modeling of drug transport properties in different tissue environments has provided theoretical insights on rational implant design, and several imaging techniques have been established to monitor the local drug concentrations surrounding these implants both ex vivo and in vivo. Preliminary antitumor efficacy and drug distribution studies in a rabbit liver tumor model have shown that these implants can restrict tumor growth in small animal tumors (diameter < 1 cm). In the future, new approaches, such as three-dimensional (3-D) drug distribution modeling and the use of multiple drug-releasing implants, will be used to extend the efficacy of these implants in treating larger tumors more similar to intractable human tumors.

• Authors: Brent D Weinberg, Elvin Blanco, Jinming Gao
• Journal: Journal of pharmaceutical sciences (J Pharm Sci) Vol. 97 Issue 5 Pg. 1681-702 (May 2008) ISSN: 0022-3549 [Print] United States
• PMID: 17847077 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S., Review)

Chemical References

• Antineoplastic Agents
• Delayed-Action Preparations
• Drug Implants
• Polymers

Topics

• Animals
• Antineoplastic Agents (administration & dosage, pharmacokinetics)
• Delayed-Action Preparations
• Drug Delivery Systems
• Drug Implants
• Humans
• Neoplasms (drug therapy)
• Polymers (administration & dosage)
• Tissue Distribution