Transporter and protease mediated delivery of platinum complexes for precision oncology

Precision approaches are rapidly becoming the norm in the treatment of cancer and this is already impacting on the way platinum complexes are used. In this commentary, we will argue that there is the potential for platinum complexes to make a much greater contribution to precision oncology, one that is complementary to many of the other approaches being used and developed. Our focus will be on two methods for targeting anticancer agents: ligand-targeted drug delivery and protease activation of prodrugs. We will describe work done to date and discuss the directions that appear to be showing most promise. We will also discuss the challenges involved in the testing of targeted prodrugs in biological models and the possible consequences of these difficulties.