TARGETED IMMUNOLIPOSOMES - POTENTIAL ROLE IN THE DELIVERY OF CYTOTOXIC DRUGS

Antibody-directed liposomes, or immunoliposomes, have been extensively examined for potential applications for site-specific drug delivery. A wide variety of cytotoxic drugs, including conventional low molecular weight cytotoxic drugs, proteins, peptides, oligonucleotides and plasmid DNA, have been formulated in immunoliposomes. Although the rationale of this approach has been well established in a number of studies in vitro, only a limited number of successful applications of immunoliposomes have been reported in vivo. Several physiological barriers, including anatomical, pharmacokinetic and cellular, have been identified, and efforts are in progress to overcome these barriers and to develop more efficient immunoliposome systems.