Advances in Lymphatic Imaging and Drug Delivery

Journal Article · Sat Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 63(10-11):867-885

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2011.05.020· OSTI ID:1026603

Nune, Satish K; Gunda, Padmaja; Majeti, Bharat K; Thallapally, Praveen K; Laird, Forrest M

Cancer remains the second leading cause of death after heart disease in the US. While metastasized cancers such as breast, prostate, and colon are incurable, before their distant spread, these diseases will have invaded the lymphatic system as a first step in their progression. Hence, proper evaluation of the disease state of the lymphatics which drain a tumor site is crucial to staging and the formation of a treatment plan. Current lymphatic imaging modalities with visible dyes and radionucleotide tracers offer limited sensitivity and poor resolution; however, newer tools using nanocarriers, quantum dots, and magnetic resonance imaging promise to vastly improve the staging of lymphatic spread without needless biopsies. Concurrent with the improvement of lymphatic imaging agents, has been the development of drug carriers that can localize chemotherapy to the lymphatic system, thus improving the treatment of localized disease while minimizing the exposure of healthy organs to cytotoxic drugs. This review will focus on polymeric systems that have been developed for imaging and drug delivery to the lymph system, how these new devices improve upon current technologies, and where further improvement is needed.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1026603
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-69744; TRN: US201120%%932
• Journal Information: Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 63(10-11):867-885, Vol. 63, Issue 10-11
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES
CHEMOTHERAPY
DEATH
DISEASES
DYES
EVALUATION
LARGE INTESTINE
LYMPH
LYMPHATIC SYSTEM
MAGNETIC RESONANCE
NEOPLASMS
ORGANS
PROSTATE
QUANTUM DOTS
RESOLUTION
SENSITIVITY
drug delivery
polymeric carriers
lymphatic system
sentinel lymph nodes
quantum dots
dendrimers