ABSTRACT
Samuel D. Bernal and Yuk-Chor Wong UCLA San Fernando Valley Program, Sepulveda Veterans Administration Medical Center, Sepulveda, California
Romulo de Villa UCLA San Fernando Valley Program, Sepulveda Veterans Administration Medical Center, Sepulveda, California, and Far Eastern University, Manila, Philippines
INTRODUCTION
Liposomal formulations of chemotherapeutic agents have great potential for selective delivery of drugs to tumor cells (1 ). These liposomal constructs offer the possibility of increasing the therapeutic index of various drugs-by decreasing toxicity to normal organs while selectively increasing accumulation in tumor cells. The higher therapeutic index of liposomal drug compared to free drug is the result of many factors; among them, the ability to remain in the circulation with very long half-lives and increased microvascular permeability of tumors. Lipophilic drugs that would otherwise be difficult to administer systemically can be delivered by liposomes (2).
