Role of Biotechnology in Drug Delivery for Cancer

Abstract

Drug delivery is an important part of pharmacotherapy of cancer. Merely developing an effective anticancer agent is not enough unless it is delivered to the site of action. Traditional drug development considered formulations for different routes of administration, mostly oral or injectable. Cancer drug delivery is no longer simply wrapping the drug in new formulations for different routes of delivery. Knowledge and experience from other technologies such as nanotechnology, advanced polymer chemistry, and electronic engineering are being brought together in developing novel methods of drug delivery. The focus is on targeted cancer therapy. The newer approaches to cancer treatment not only supplement the conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy but also aim to prevent damage to the normal tissues and overcome drug resistance. Innovative methods of cancer treatment, e.g., cell and gene therapies, require new concepts of drug delivery in cancer. New biotechnologies have contributed considerably to drug delivery in cancer and some of these have been considered in other chapters: monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) (Chap. 8), nanobiotechnology/nanooncology (Chap. 9), cell therapy (Chap. 10), gene therapy (Chap. 11), and RNAi (Chap. 12).