The place of polymer prodrugs in cancer therapy

The administration of current cancer chemotherapy agents is associated with significant toxicity and makes these agents ideal candidates for more selective drug targeting. Polymer prodrug therapy is a strategy that provides a means of targeting cytotoxic agents to specific organs or tumour tissues. The principle structure of a polymer prodrug consists of a water soluble polymeric carrier or backbone, linked to the chemotherapeutic drug of choice. The modification of a specific anticancer drug in this way can theoretically allow specific tumour targeting, thus protecting normal cells and allowing higher doses of the drug to be administered whilst reducing the potential toxicity profile.