ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses experimental approaches to improve the effectiveness of intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy, focuses on the biomaterials used as drug carriers and various dosage forms that have been reported to date. In designing an IP drug delivery system, it is necessary to apply more stringent criteria for the selection of biomaterials for formulations. Some biomaterials typically considered biocompatible are found to induce significant inflammatory responses such as peritoneal adhesions. Biomaterials used for peritoneal adhesion prevention are great candidates for IP drug delivery. Careful selection of biomaterials as a drug carrier is particularly important for IP application because of the high sensitivity of the peritoneal cavity to foreign insults. Biomaterials generally considered biocompatible or wildly used in other biomedical applications have caused inflammatory responses and peritoneal adhesion upon IP application. For example, PLGA microparticles induced adhesions 2 weeks after IP injection in mice.
