Recent advances in drug delivery strategies for treatment of ovarian cancer, Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery
Introduction:
Ovarian cancer is associated with the highest mortality rate of all
gynecological malignancies, due in part to inadequate treatment
strategies and the asymptomatic nature of the disease. Current standard
of care includes surgery and systemic chemotherapy. However, this
approach can result in toxicities and eventual disease relapse, due to
the emergence of multidrug resistance. Drug delivery systems (DDS) have
shown promise in overcoming many of the limitations facing conventional
treatment regimens.
Expert opinion:
Nano-sized DDS enable passive targeting to tumors due to their size,
and further improvements in tumor localization can be made using
targeting moieties. Microspheres, implants and injectable depots have
been investigated for peritoneal localized and sustained therapy.
Overall, the benefits of using DDS for ovarian cancer therapy include
higher drug levels at the diseased site, circumvention of drug
resistance mechanisms, minimization of non-specific toxicities,
improvements in solubility of poorly soluble drugs and elimination of
toxicities associated with conventionally used pharmaceutical
excipients.