Liposome-based chemotherapeutics used in the treatment of
breast cancer can in principle enhance the therapeutic index of otherwise unencapsulated anticancer drugs. This is partially attributed to the fact that encapsulation of
cytotoxic agents within
liposomes allows for increased concentrations of the
drug to be delivered to the
tumor site. In addition, the presence of the
phospholipid bilayer prevents the encapsulated active form of the
drug from being broken down in the body prior to reaching
tumor tissue and also serves to minimize exposure of the
drug to healthy sensitive tissue. While clinically approved
liposome-based chemotherapeutics such as
Doxil have proven to be quite effective in the treatment of
breast cancer, significant challenges remain involving poor
drug transfer between the
liposome and cancerous cells. In this review, we discuss the recent advancements made in the development of
liposome-based chemotherapeutics with respect to improved
drug transfer for use in
breast cancer therapy.