Drug delivery to tumors of the central nervous system.

M. S. Lesniak, R. Langer, H. Brem

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

Contemporary treatment of malignant brain tumors has been hampered by problems with drug delivery to the tumor bed. Inherent boundaries of the central nervous system, such as the blood-brain barrier or the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier, and a general lack of response to many chemotherapeutic agents have led to alternative treatment modalities. In general, all these modalities have sought to either disrupt or bypass the physiologic brain barriers and deliver the drug directly to the tumor. This article reviews past, as well as current, methods of drug delivery to tumors of the central nervous system. Special emphasis is placed on biodegradable polymers that can release chemotherapeutic agents against malignant gliomas. A variety of other nonchemotherapeutic drugs, including antiangiogenesis and immunotherapeutic agents, are presented in the context of new polymer technology. Finally, future directions in drug delivery are discussed with an overview on new advances in emerging biotechnology.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)210-216
Number of pages7
JournalCurrent neurology and neuroscience reports
Volume1
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2001

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience
  • Clinical Neurology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Drug delivery to tumors of the central nervous system.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this