Dendritic scaffolds as novel carriers for cancer cell targeting

Abstract

Cancer is a complex disease that is caused primarily by environmental factors. The cancer -causing agents (carcinogens) can be present in food and water, in the air, and in chemicals and sunlight that people are exposed to. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. Cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the body through the lymphatic system or bloodstream. Cancer is usually treated with chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery. Above mentioned treatment methods are affecting the normal cells without properly targeting the specific cells  of tumor. Due to the reason various  novel drug delivery systems were implemented. Recent advances in drug design have led to the development of new small molecular weight chemotherapeutic agents, peptide and protein molecules that can be used for the treatment of cancer. However, transformation of these drug candidates in to actual therapies with well-defined dosage regimen remains a significant challenge due to the limited ability to selectively deliver these drug molecules in to the cytoplasm of cancer cells. Dendrimers are novel synthetic polymers, which can be used as universal carrier on creating systems for drug delivery of cytotoxic drugs to solid tumors. These carriers have unique characteristics including monodispersity, surface functionality along with highly defined size and structure. This makes these polymers attractive candidates as carriers in targeting the cancer cells.