Towards Optimal Design of Cancer Nanomedicines: Multi-stage Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Solid Tumors.

ABSTRACT: Conventional drug delivery systems for solid tumors are composed of a nano-carrier that releases its therapeutic load. These two-stage nanoparticles utilize the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect to enable preferential delivery to tumor tissue. However, the size-dependency of the EPR, the limited penetration of nanoparticles into the tumor as well as the rapid binding of the particles or the released cytotoxic agents to cancer cells and stromal components inhibit the uniform distribution of the drug and the efficacy of the treatment. Here, we employ mathematical modeling to study the effect of particle size, drug release rate and binding affinity on the distribution and efficacy of nanoparticles to derive optimal design rules. Furthermore, we introduce a new multi-stage deliv

SUBMITTER: Stylianopoulos T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4519365 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature