Drug delivery systems in the transport of doxorubicin

Doxorubicin (DOX) is an anthracycline antibiotic used in the treatment of different types of cancer such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, lung carcinoma, acute leukemia, multiple myeloma and several sarcomas. Despite its efficiency, the treatment with DOX may lead to several side effects. In order to eliminate or decrease them, alternative ways of administration using different drug delivery systems (DDS) are extensively investigated. Some formulations, such as liposomal DOX, are already on the market, while other conjugates have currently the clinical trial status. There are also DDS, which are still in the preclinical stage, but they are promising as far as increasing the efficiency of the treatment and decreasing cytotoxicity is concerned. In this brief review, different types of DDS used in the transport of DOX are summarized. Apart from the most common liposomal formulations, the attention is also paid to micelles, gold, magnetic and silica nanoparticles, and carbon nanotubes. Possible applications of other promising DDS such as polymer–drug conjugates, dendrimers and cyclodextrins are also shortly described.