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Polymeric micelle nanocarriers in cancer research

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Abstract

Amphiphilic block copolymers (ABCs) assemble into a spherical nanoscopic supramolecular core/shell nanostructure termed a polymeric micelle that has been widely researched as an injectable nanocarrier for poorly water-soluble anticancer agents. The aim of this review article is to update progress in the field of drug delivery towards clinical trials, highlighting advances in polymeric micelles used for drug solubilization, reduced off-target toxicity and tumor targeting by the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. Polymeric micelles vary in stability in blood and drug release rate, and accordingly play different but key roles in drug delivery. For intravenous (IV) infusion, polymeric micelles that disassemble in blood and rapidly release poorly water-soluble anticancer agent such as paclitaxel have been used for drug solubilization, safety and the distinct possibility of toxicity reduction relative to existing solubilizing agents, e.g., Cremophor EL. Stable polymeric micelles are long-circulating in blood and reduce distribution to non-target tissue, lowering off-target toxicity. Further, they participate in the EPR effect in murine tumor models. In summary, polymeric micelles act as injectable nanocarriers for poorly water-soluble anticancer agents, achieving reduced toxicity and targeting tumors by the EPR effect.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 53705, USA

    Dae Hwan Shin, Yu Tong Tam & Glen S. Kwon

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  1. Dae Hwan Shin
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  2. Yu Tong Tam
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  3. Glen S. Kwon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Glen S. Kwon.

Additional information

Dr. Glen S. Kwon is the Jens T. Carstensen Professor in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin. He received a B.S. in Chemistry in 1986 and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics in 1991 from the University of Utah. He was a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Biomedical Engineering and Science at Tokyo Women’s Medical University in Tokyo, Japan from 1991 to 1993. He was an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada from 1993 to 1997. He received the Jorge Heller Journal of Controlled Release/Controlled Release Society (CRS) Outstanding Paper Award in 1994 and the CRS Young Investigator Research Achievement Award in 2003. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists in 2012. He was selected as a highly-cited researcher by Thomson Reuters in the category of Pharmacology & Toxicology in 2014. He is co-founder of Co-D Therapeutics Inc., a start-up company dedicated to novel multi-drug loaded polymeric micelles. He is a member of the Experimental Therapeutics Program at the UW Carbone Cancer Center, an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Alberta, member of the Global siRNA Initiative at the Korean Institute of Science and Technology, and a member of the Board of Scientific Advisors in CRS. He serves on editorial boards of J. Controlled Release, Molecular Pharmaceutics, and Pharm. Res. His research focuses on polymeric carrier systems for drug, gene and peptide/protein-based therapeutics.

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Shin, D.H., Tam, Y.T. & Kwon, G.S. Polymeric micelle nanocarriers in cancer research. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng. 10, 348–359 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-016-1582-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-016-1582-2

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