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Emerging pro-drug and nano-drug strategies for gemcitabine-based cancer therapy

Haijie Han1,2,3, Su Li1,2, Yueyang Zhong1,2

  • 1Eye Center, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, China.

Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
|March 9, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Gemcitabine drug delivery faces challenges due to poor pharmacokinetics and toxicity. This review explores novel pro-drug and nano-drug strategies to enhance gemcitabine

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Pharmacology
  • Nanotechnology

Background:

  • Gemcitabine is a key chemotherapy agent for solid tumors.
  • Its clinical efficacy is limited by rapid deactivation, poor pharmacokinetics, and systemic toxicity.
  • Challenges include deamination, deoxycytidine kinase (DCK) deficiencies, and altered nucleoside transporters.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review strategies for improving gemcitabine's therapeutic performance.
  • To explore the design of novel gemcitabine delivery systems.
  • To provide insights for enhanced cancer therapy using gemcitabine.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on gemcitabine pro-drugs and nano-drugs.
  • Analysis of chemical modification strategies for gemcitabine.
  • Evaluation of gemcitabine-loaded nano-drug formulations.

Main Results:

  • Pro-drug synthesis improves gemcitabine's biostability and bioavailability.
  • Nano-drug formulations enhance gemcitabine delivery efficiency.
  • These strategies aim to overcome gemcitabine's limitations.

Conclusions:

  • Fabricating efficient gemcitabine delivery systems is crucial for improved cancer therapy.
  • Pro-drugs and nano-drugs represent promising strategies to enhance gemcitabine's therapeutic efficacy.
  • Further research into rational design of gemcitabine delivery systems is warranted.
Keywords:
Cancer therapyGemcitabineNano-drugPro-drug

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