Gelatin- based particulate systems for pulmonary delivery of an anti-cancer drug

Abstract

Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women where about 1 out of 4 cancer deaths results from lung cancer. Radiotherapy, chemotherapy or their combinations were the primary therapies for the disease. However, conventional intravenous chemotherapy poses many drawbacks such as poor distribution to the lungs that is usually accompanied with resistance and metastasis of the cancer cells. Therefore, the site specificpulmonary delivery of chemotherapeutic agents offers an attractive alternative byprovidinghigh local concentrations to the cancerous tissues, thus avoiding the systemic side effects to vital organs. Additionally, the lung is characterized by minimalintracellular and extracellular drug metabolizing enzymes, while avoiding first pass metabolism which enhances the drug bioavailability to cancerous cells.