Carbohydrate Systems in Targeted Drug Delivery: Expectation and Reality

In the end of the twentieth century, the world entered the era of high-tech and personalized medicine, characterized by the introduction of targeted drugs into clinical practice. Selective drug delivery became one of the most favorable ways to increase the efficacy and safety of chemotherapy. The current review is devoted to the study of carbohydrates in targeted drug delivery, particularly, in the treatment of oncological diseases. This review provides the analysis of numerous research papers, concerning the potential of mono- and oligosaccharides as vector ligands aimed at tumor- and tissue-specific receptors, and describes examples of carbohydrate conjugates containing various biologically active compounds, such as chemotherapeutic agents, photodynamic therapy agents, substrates for imaging in vitro and in vivo. The individual sections of this review are focused on the role of carbohydrates in tumor immunotherapy and the use of polysaccharides as nanocontainers for selective delivery of active substances, including nucleic acids. The problems and prospects of the biomedical application of carbohydrates and their mimetics as vectors for targeted delivery are discussed.