Antibody-targeted immunoliposomes for cancer treatment

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) or their derivatives are often used as the targeted ligands in the ligand targeted liposomes (LTLs). LTLs modified with mAbs or their derivatives are defined as immunoliposomes. Immunoliposomes can be designed to improve the pharmacological properties of conventional drugs. The development of immunoliposomes, which perfectly combines antibody engineering and liposomes, is becoming a possible state-of-the-art in liposome research. This review discusses the recent characterization and therapeutic effects of immunoliposomes in cancer therapy. The recent advances in the field of immunoliposomes for the treatment of cancer are summarized as follows: antibody engineering, current antibody conjugation strategies, characterization and therapeutic effects of immunoliposomes and the future perspective of immunoliposomes. Although antibody targeted immunoliposomes are being developed rapidly, there has been still a number of hot spots in research that require sustained effort for success. It is reasonable to predict that immunoliposomes will be approved for clinic use, and patients will benefit much from this cancer targeted therapy.