ABSTRACT
Chemotherapy is often complicated by toxic side effects of anti-cancer drugs. This chapter reviews the state of the art in drug targeting to tumors using polymeric micelles as drug carriers and tumor-localized ultrasound as a means to trigger drug release from micelles in the tumor volume. Ultrasound enhances the intracellular drug uptake and sensitizes multidrug resistance tumors to the action of conventional drugs. In animal models, drug encapsulation within polymeric micelles combined with ultrasonic tumor irradiation results in effective tumor targeting and inhibition of tumor growth. The effect is based on ultrasonically triggered localized drug release from micelles and enhanced intracellular drug uptake. Use of polymeric micelles as solubilizing agents results in dramatically increased aqueous solubility, and substantially decreased systemic toxicity of clinical formulations of paclitaxel, doxorubicin, and many other anti-cancer drugs. Intratumoral chemotherapy by nanoparticle encapsulated drugs could be advantageous for tumors with well-defined primary lesions such as breast, colorectal, prostate, and skin cancers.
