Polymers in the co-delivery of siRNA and anticancer drugs to treat multidrug-resistant tumors

摘要

Traditional chemotherapeutic agents have long been associated with serious drawbacks due to the heterogeneity and complexity of human cancer. One of the major hurdles regarding chemotherapy is the development of multidrug resistance by the cancer cells. Combination therapy of cancer using different anticancer vectors holds great promise in clinical settings and has been accepted as a current treatment standard for cancer. Recently, siRNA-mediated RNA interference has gained significant attention for cancer treatment due to its ability to knock down genes and proteins with great specificity. Combination of this fast evolving approach to downregulation of genes associated with multidrug resistance in cancer with the simultaneous delivery of traditional chemotherapeutics is fast becoming an effective approach in the cancer therapy. This article provides a view focused on the polymers used to develop multifunctional co-delivery systems that specifically encapsulate siRNAs targeted against MDR and conventional chemotherapeutics. The many studies reviewed here that reported successful in vitro and in vivo results emphasize the promise of this combination therapy approach to overcome multidrug resistance in cancer.