The Treatment of Breast Cancer Using Liposome Technology

Abstract

Liposome-based chemotherapeutics used in the treatment of breast cancer can in principle enhance the therapeutic index of otherwise unencapsulated anticancer drugs. This is partially attributed to the fact that encapsulation of cytotoxic agents within liposomes allows for increased concentrations of the drug to be delivered to the tumor site. In addition, the presence of the phospholipid bilayer prevents the encapsulated active form of the drug from being broken down in the body prior to reaching tumor tissue and also serves to minimize exposure of the drug to healthy sensitive tissue. While clinically approved liposome-based chemotherapeutics such as Doxil have proven to be quite effective in the treatment of breast cancer, significant challenges remain involving poor drug transfer between the liposome and cancerous cells. In this review, we discuss the recent advancements made in the development of liposome-based chemotherapeutics with respect to improved drug transfer for use in breast cancer therapy.