Advances in Cancer Therapy: Novel Approaches in Combined Drug Treatments

Drug resistance and poor efficacy of anticancer therapies prompt to investigate innovative therapeutic strategies aimed to improving efficacy and lowering toxicity. Recent advances in chemotherapeutics have been achieved using specific pharmaceutical combinations or ameliorating drug delivery by drug encapsulation.

Novel combined treatments are based on the use of drugs, typically natural active or intended for other uses combined with the classical anti-cancer drug. These compounds promote synergistic effects even more enhanced when drug delivery is achieved by nanocarriers. Nanotechnologies provide a site-specific delivery at the tumor site, resulting from receptor-mediated endocytosis and prolonged circulation time. Nanocarriers also increase drug bioavailability and biocompatibility contributing to a drug increase inside the tumor and determining a minor toxicity and a better efficacy.

This chapter reports recent findings about novel anticancer combined treatments and about the latest drug delivery systems based on the use of nanocarriers.

Keywords: Cannabinoids, Combined treatment, Curcumin, Epigallocatechingallate, Liposomes, Nanoparticles oncolytic viruses, Phytochemicals, Resveratrol, Small interfering RNA, y-tocotrienol.