Targeted drug delivery and penetration into solid tumors.

Abstract

Delivery and penetration of chemotherapeutic drugs into tumors are limited by a number of factors related to abnormal vasculature and altered stroma composition in neoplastic tissues. Coupling of chemotherapeutic drugs with tumor vasculature-homing peptides or administration of drugs in combination with biological agents that affect the integrity of the endothelial lining of tumor vasculature is an appealing strategy to improve drug delivery to tumor cells. Promising approaches to achieve this goal are based on the use of Asn-Gly-Arg (NGR)-containing peptides as ligands for drug delivery and of NGR-TNF, a peptide-tumor necrosis factor-α fusion protein that selectively alters drug penetration barriers and that is currently tested in a randomized Phase III trial in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

• Authors: Angelo Corti, Fabio Pastorino, Flavio Curnis, Wadih Arap, Mirco Ponzoni, Renata Pasqualini
• Journal: Medicinal research reviews (Med Res Rev) Vol. 32 Issue 5 Pg. 1078-91 (Sep 2012) ISSN: 1098-1128 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 21287572 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Review)
• Copyright: © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Chemical References

• Ligands
• Recombinant Fusion Proteins
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
• tumor necrosis factor-alpha, CNGRC fusion protein, human

Topics

• Clinical Trials as Topic
• Drug Delivery Systems (methods)
• Humans
• Ligands
• Neoplasms (blood supply, drug therapy)
• Recombinant Fusion Proteins (immunology, therapeutic use)
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (immunology, therapeutic use)