Aptamer Functionalized Liposomes for Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Cancer is a common disease affecting many people. It is considered that 1 out of 3 people will be diagnosed with cancer in the course of their lives. The current treatments for different types of cancers are conventional radiation and chemotherapy. However, their use becomes limited due to the adverse side effects caused by using overwhelming amounts of radiation or drugs. Targeted drugs look promising since they can reduce the required dose by orders of magnitude and minimize the damage done to normal cells. Targeting the cancer cells is accomplished by using targeted delivery vehicles that specifically recognize the affected cells. The vehicles are functionalized by coupling ligands such as antibodies, peptide, or aptamers. This review paper describes the main FDA approved or in clinical trials formulations of liposomes, aptamers, and aptamer-liposomes. Aptamer-liposomes seem to be very attractive systems for the delivery of drugs for the treatment of various types of cancer.