Biodegradable polymeric micelles for targeted and controlled anticancer drug delivery: Promises, progress and prospects

SummaryBiodegradable polymeric micelles have emerged as one of the most promising platforms for targeted and controlled anticancer drug delivery due to their excellent biocompatibility, prolonged circulation time, enhanced accumulation in tumor, and in vivo degradability. Notably, several micellar anticancer drugs, with clear advantages of decreased side effects and improved drug tolerance, have advanced to different phases of clinical trials. The therapeutic outcomes are, however, far from optimal, due to issues of low in vivo stability, poor tumor penetration, inefficient cellular uptake, slow intracellular drug release, etc. This review highlights recent developments in functional biodegradable micelles for safe and efficient cancer chemotherapy.

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► Overviews progress of biodegradable micellar drugs for clinical cancer treatments.
► Evaluates approaches to address the in vivo stability and drug release dilemma.
► Highlights strategies to achieve efficient tumor penetration and cell uptake.
► Gives personal perspectives on future development of micellar anticancer drugs.