Local delivery of chemotherapy: innovative technologies and materials for local chemotherapy platforms

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Abstract

Background. Drug delivery systems are becoming an increasingly popular strategy to enhance the effectiveness of cancer treatment while reducing the systemic toxicity of chemotherapy. In recent years, the development of biomaterials and technologies for fabricating platforms (carriers) for controlled drug release has emerged as a key interdisciplinary research area at the intersection of materials science and oncology, leading to novel methods of carrier fabrication and drug incorporation.

Aim. To structure available data on the relationship between drug incorporation methods, platform fabrication techniques, and the resulting structural and functional properties of the carriers.

Materials and methods. Databases including Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and ClinicalTrials.gov were used to identify and analyze studies from the past decade reporting on localized drug delivery platforms for cancer therapy. The selected studies were compared based on parameters such as porous and macrostructural morphology of the carriers, physicochemical characteristics, and controlled drug release profiles.

Results. It was found that drug release kinetics and duration depend on three main factors: the fabrication method of the carrier, its morphology (especially porosity), and the chemical composition of the polymer. Electrospinning of synthetic polymers is the most frequently applied method, enabling adjustable porosity and high specific surface area.

Conclusion. According to the reviewed studies, local drug delivery using carrier platforms contributes to an effective reduction in tumor cell proliferation and to the limitation of metastasis. This is associated with the achievement of higher and more sustained drug concentrations at the tumor site while simultaneously reducing circulating drug levels in the body, thereby decreasing systemic toxicity and increasing median overall survival. The advantages of local chemotherapy delivery, combined with technological advances, offer broad prospects for the development of safer and more effective chemotherapy strategies.

About the authors

Amina A. Voznyuk

National University of Science and Technology “MISIS”

Email: koudan1568@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0001-7549-5947
Russian Federation, 4 Leninsky Prospekt, Moscow 119049

Elizaveta G. Glinskaia

National University of Science and Technology “MISIS”

Email: koudan1568@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8246-9846
Russian Federation, 4 Leninsky Prospekt, Moscow 119049

Egor S. Demidov

National University of Science and Technology “MISIS”

Email: koudan1568@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0000-7935-7931
Russian Federation, 4 Leninsky Prospekt, Moscow 119049

Maksim E. Lugovoi

National University of Science and Technology “MISIS”

Email: www111www6376@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0009-0007-7160-7802
Russian Federation, 4 Leninsky Prospekt, Moscow 119049

Elizaveta V. Koudan

National University of Science and Technology “MISIS”

Author for correspondence.
Email: koudan1568@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9377-8118
Russian Federation, 4 Leninsky Prospekt, Moscow 119049

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