Passive vs. Active Targeting: An Update of the EPR Role in Drug Delivery to Tumors

摘要: A variety of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) currently used for cancer treatment are cytotoxic, and show nonspecific distribution when administered systemically resulting in toxicity to normal tissues, hence limiting their clinical application. To overcome these challenges, nanocarriers such as liposomes micelles have been widely deliver APIs chemotherapy. Delivery is achieved either via “passive targeting” owing the enhanced permeability retention (EPR) effect or “active due presence various ligands on surface nanocarriers, antibodies, peptides, etc. Numerous factors involved successful delivery chemotherapeutic agents; depend tumor microenvironment, formulation choice ligand use, physiochemical properties target. In this chapter, we discuss fundamentals EPR effect, affecting passive targeting, current update actively passively targeted micelles.