Acta Pharm. 65 (2015) 105-116
Review
Virosome, a hybrid vehicle for efficient and
safe drug delivery and its emerging application in cancer treatment
HANQING
LIU, ZHIGANG TU, FAN FENG, HAIFENG SHI, KEPING CHEN and XIMING XU
1 School of Pharmacy, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212013,
China
2 Institute of
Life Sciences, Jiangsu
University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212013, China
Accepted February 9, 2015
A virosome is an innovative hybrid drug delivery system with
advantages of both viral and non-viral vectors. Studies have shown that a virosome
can carry various biologically active molecules, such as nucleic acids,
peptides, proteins and small organic molecules. Targeted drug delivery using
virosome-based systems can be achieved through surface modifications of
virosomes. A number of virosome-based prophylactic and therapeutic products
with high safety profiles are currently available in the market. Cancer
treatment is a big battlefield for virosome-based drug delivery systems. This
review provides an overview of the general concept, preparation procedures,
working mechanisms, preclinical studies and clinical applications of virosomes
in cancer treatment.
Keywords: virosome, drug delivery system, cancer treatment, cancer
vaccine