Skip to content
2000
Volume 28, Issue 31
  • ISSN: 0929-8673
  • E-ISSN: 1875-533X

Abstract

Paclitaxel (PTX) is the first natural plant-derived chemotherapeutic drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration. However, the clinical applications of PTX are limited by some drawbacks, such as poor water solubility, rapid blood clearance, nonspecific distribution, and adverse side effects. Nanocarriers have made important contributions to drug delivery and cancer therapy in recent years. However, low drug loading capacity, nanocarrier excipients-induced toxicity or immunogenicity, and complicated synthesis technologies pose a challenge for the clinical application of nanocarriers. To address these issues, the self-delivery nanomedicine (SDNs), in which pure drug molecules directly self-assemble into nanomedicine, have been developed for drug delivery and enhancing antitumor efficacy. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the recent advances in PTX-based SDNs for cancer therapy. First, the self-assembly strategies to develop pure PTX nanodrugs are discussed. Then, the emerging strategies of co-assembly PTX and other therapeutic agents for effective combination therapy are presented, composing of combination chemotherapy, chemo-photothermal therapy, chemo-photodynamic therapy, chemo-immunotherapy, and chemo-gene therapy. Finally, the limitations and future outlook of SDNs are discussed. The rational design of these unique nanoplatforms may make a new direction to develop highly efficient drug delivery systems for cancer therapy.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/cmc/10.2174/0929867327666201111143725
2021-09-01
2025-06-15
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/content/journals/cmc/10.2174/0929867327666201111143725
Loading

  • Article Type:
    Review Article
Keyword(s): cancer therapy; carrier-free; nanomedicine; Paclitaxel; SDNs; self-assembly; self-delivery
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test