Antibody-modified liposomes for cancer chemotherapy

Background: Liposomes, phospholipids, nanosized bubbles with a bilayered membrane structure, have drawn a lot of interest as pharmaceutical carriers for drugs and genes. In particular, liposomes are widely used for drug delivery into tumors. Objective: In many cases, to enhance the efficacy of the liposomal drugs, drug-loaded liposomes are targeted to the tumors by means of different specific ligands, such as monoclonal antibodies. Thus, this review analyzes the application of antibody-targeted liposomes loaded with various chemotherapeutic agents and various liposomal products under development at experimental and preclinical level. Methods: The papers published on the subject of cancer-targeted liposomes mainly over the last 10 - 15 years are discussed. Conclusion: Antibody-targeted liposomes loaded with anticancer drugs demonstrate high potential for clinical applications.