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Targeted drug delivery for boron neutron capture therapy
1Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Georgia, Athens 30602, USA.
Purpose:
Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a form of radiochemotherapy that is becoming increasingly important for the treatment of malignant gliomas, malignant melanomas and other forms of cancer. Targeted delivery of boron to tumors is a critical prerequisite for successful BNCT.
Methods:
Strategies that involve synthetic chemical approaches and biochemical and biophysical approaches are employed to meet this requirement. Compounds developed for targeting to tumors include borocaptate sodium (BSH) and p-boronophenylalanine (BPA) which are currently in clinical use.
Results:
Boronated porphyrins, nucleosides, nucleotides and other boronated compounds show potentials as targeting molecules. Conjugation of boron compounds to macromolecules such as monoclonal antibodies, epidermal growth factor and dextran is also employed for active or passive tumor targeting.
Conclusions:
Boron delivery via microparticulate carriers such as liposomes, high density lipoproteins and microcapsules is also attractive for its potential application in BNCT.