Work

Alliance with EPR Effect: Combined Strategies to Improve the EPR Effect in the Tumor Microenvironment

Year: 2019

Type: review

Abstract: The use of nanomedicine for cancer treatment takes advantage of its preferential accumulation in tumors owing to the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. The development of cancer nanomedicine has promised highly effective treatment options unprecedented by standard therapeutics. However, the therapeutic efficacy of passively targeted nanomedicine is not always satisfactory because it is largely influenced by the heterogeneity of the intensity of the EPR effect exhibited within a tumor, at different stages of a tumor, and among individual tumors. In addition, limited data on EPR effectiveness in human hinders further clinical translation of nanomedicine. This unsatisfactory therapeutic outcome in mice and humans necessitates novel approaches to improve the EPR effect. This review focuses on current attempts at overcoming the limitations of traditional EPR-dependent nanomedicine by incorporating supplementary strategies, such as additional molecular targeting, physical alteration, or physiological remodeling of the tumor microenvironment. This review will provide valuable insight to researchers who seek to overcome the limitations of relying on the EPR effect alone in cancer nanomedicine and go "beyond the EPR effect".

Source: Theranostics

DOI: 10.7150/thno.37198

Authors: Jooho Park, Yongwhan Choi, Hyeyoun Chang, Wooram Um, Ju Hee Ryu, Ick Chan Kwon

Institutions: Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Korea University, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Language: English

Topic: Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery

Subfield: Biomaterials

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,671