Development and Application of Gold-lipidic Nanocompos- ites to Enhance Chemotherapeutic Delivery and Release

Liposomal drug carriers are nano-scale, spherical particles with a phospholipid bilayer surrounding an aqueous core and are commonly used for chemotherapeutic delivery. Chemotherapy efficacy is limited by toxicity and tumor drug resistance; however, with increased circulation and improved tumor deposition due to the enhanced permeability and retention effect, liposomes increase treatment efficacy and reduce toxicity. However, the chemistry of many efficacious chemotherapeutics prevents their encapsulation within liposomes and poses a challenge for formulating treatments. To respond to this challenge, current drug research is aimed at the development of improved drug delivery technologies, particularly those carriers capable of multi-drug or component delivery because of their flexibility and high applicability.