Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 11
Polymer-Based Prodrugs for
Cancer Chemotherapy
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3
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QIHANG SUN
b
, JINQIANG WANG
a
, MACIEJ RADOSZ
b
AND YOUQING SHEN*
a
a
Center for Bionanoengineering and State Key Laboratory of Chemical
Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang
University, Hangzhou 310027, P. R. China;
b
Department of Chemical and
Petroleum Engineering, Soft Materials Laboratory, University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY 82071, USA
*
E-mail: shenyq@zju.edu.cn
11.1 Introduction
Chemotherapy has achieved great success in cancer treatment during recent
past decades, but it is still challenged by poor solubility, low tumor selectivity,
and associated toxicity of most anticancer drugs.
1
The prodrug strategy is one
of the most commonly used chemical/biochemical strategies towards improv-
ing the therapeutic index of anticancer drugs.
2
A prodrug is defined as a chemically modified drug derivative that is inactive
or less active but metabolized in vivo to release the parent active component in
the pharmacological environment
3
to improve the drug's desirability, including
water solubility, patient acceptability (e.g. decreasing pain on injection), and
pharmacokinetics (absorption, biodistribution, metabolism, and elimination;
ADME). A typical prodrug normally consists of three parts (Figure 11.1): (1)
the parent drug exerting therapeutic effects; (2) the chemical linker bridging the
parent drug and the modifier; and (3) the modifier endowing the prodrug with
