Polymeric micelles drug delivery system in oncology

Polymeric micelles (PM) system, as an efficient drug carrier, has received growing scientific attention in recent years owing to its solubilization, selective targeting, P-glycoprotein inhibition and altered drug internalization route and subcellular localization properties. Seven PM formulations of anti-tumor drugs being evaluated in clinical trials are reviewed in this paper, in terms of formulation study, in vitro cytotoxicity, in vivo pharmacokinetics, anti-tumor efficacy and safety as well as clinical trials, to shed new light on the discovery of novel PM formulations. In these seven PM formulations, PM system was employed to overcome the issues of low water solubility, high toxicity and (or) multidrug resistance accompanied with the conventional formulation, which greatly hampered their clinical application. Those promising preclinical and clinical results combined with rapid advancement and intense multidisciplinary collaboration enable the extension of the PM system to traditional Chinese medicine, imaging agents, gene and combination agent deliveries as well as some other administration routes, which facilitate the clinical translation of the PM drug delivery system.