ABSTRACT
The use of prodrugs for the targeted therapy is providing great diversity in the cancer therapy, in terms of activation chemistry, selection of target, size, and prodrug physicochemical nature. The various chemotherapeutic agents including paclitaxel, doxorubicin, cisplatin, camptothecan have been converted into prodrugs which can be used for targeting and treatment of particular type of cancer. Y. Hong et al., developed the prodrug-based pH-sensitive nanomedicine for the lung cancer therapy comprising the combination of doxorubicin and curcumin. The cancer-targeted prodrugs use the diverse range of chemistry to convert the prodrugs into its active cytotoxic parts. Exogenous enzymes are also used as a target for cancer cells for activating the particular administered prodrug to a cytotoxic moiety. The prodrugs are chemical substances which are inert in nature by toxicologically as well as pharmacodynamically but activate inside the body, by the specific enzyme, environment, pH, temperature, oxygen or salt concentration.
