Combination Cancer Therapy Using Multifunctional Liposomes

Chemotherapy of cancer is still considered a complex phenomenon given that single chemotherapeutic agents cannot be administered for a long period of time because of the development of drug resistance and severe side effects. Nanodrug delivery systems (NDDSs) such as nanoparticles and liposomes are being investigated to enhance the safety and efficacy of anticancer agents. NDDS-based delivery of a single agent is not found to be effective in long-term anticancer therapy. Codelivery of more than one anticancer agent using liposomes shows great potential since it exhibits simultaneous synergistic therapeutic manifestations at the tumor site and enhances therapeutic efficacy in terms of the low-dose requirement of each agent and diminished side effects. Liposomes are lipid vesicles arranged in concentric bilayers with an aqueous core; they are versatile nanocarriers that accommodate the diverse nature of anticancer drugs (both hydrophobic and hydrophilic) at the same time. They offer a number of advantages for combinatorial drug delivery in terms of increased blood circulation, selective accumulation at tumor tissues, and stimuli responsiveness. Various combination of drugs such as paclitaxel (PTX) and topotecan, sunitinib and irinotecan, and combretastin A-4 and doxorubicin have been reported for cancer chemotherapy using liposomes. This review focuses on recent scenarios of combinatorial drug delivery using liposomes for better chemotherapeutic outcomes. This assemblage can be of great importance to researchers looking for advances in novel drug delivery approaches for better cancer treatment.