Nanotechnology-based combination therapy for overcoming multidrug-resistant cancer

• Main Authors: Meng Zhang, Ergang Liu, Yanna Cui, Yongzhuo Huang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: China Anti-Cancer Association 2017-06-01
• Series: Cancer Biology & Medicine
• Subjects: Drug delivery; nanotechnology; multidrug resistance; combination therapy; cancer therapy
• Online Access: http://www.cancerbiomed.org/index.php/cocr/article/view/1044
• ISSN: 2095-3941; 2095-3941

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major obstacle to successful cancer treatment and is crucial to cancer metastasis and relapse. Combination therapy is an effective strategy for overcoming MDR. However, the different pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles of combined drugs often undermine the combination effect <i>in vivo</i>, especially when greatly different physicochemical properties (e.g., those of macromolecules and small drugs) combine. To address this issue, nanotechnology-based codelivery techniques have been actively explored. They possess great advantages for tumor targeting, controlled drug release, and identical drug PK profiles. Thus, a powerful tool for combination therapy is provided, and the translation from <i>in vitro</i> to <i>in vivo</i> is facilitated. In this review, we present a summary of various combination strategies for overcoming MDR and the nanotechnology-based combination therapy.