What is it about?
This publication is about developing smart drug delivery systems for cancer therapy.
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Why is it important?
The high incidence of colorectal cancer worldwide is currently a major health concern. Although conventional chemotherapy and surgery are effective to some extent, there is always a risk of relapse due to associated side effects, including post-surgical complications and non-discrimination between cancer and normal cells. In this study, we developed a small molecule-based theranostic system, Gal-Dox, which is preferentially taken up by colon cancer cells through receptor-mediated endocytosis. After cancer-specific activation, the active drug Dox (doxorubicin) is released with a fluorescence turn-on response, allowing both drug localization and site of action to be monitored. The therapeutic potency of Gal-Dox was also evaluated, both in vivo and ex vivo, thus illustrating the potential of Gal-Dox as a colorectal cancer theranostic with great specificity.
Perspectives
It is an important finding, whereby utilizing our novel approach to anticancer drugs, they can be delivered to cancer cells specifically while sparing normal cells and healthy tissues.
Amit Sharma
Korea University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Development of a theranostic prodrug for colon cancer therapy by combining ligand-targeted delivery and enzyme-stimulated activation, Biomaterials, February 2018, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2017.11.019.
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