In spite of the development of various anticancer drugs, the therapy of cancer has remained challenging for decades. The current therapy of cancer is overwhelmed because of the inability to deliver therapeutics to all regions of a tumor in effective therapeutic concentrations, intrinsic or acquired resistance to the treatment with currently available agents via genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, and toxicity. As a result, cancer therapy using conventional therapeutics and different types of treatment regimens using this therapeutics has not led to a convincing survival benefit of the patients. In this context, Macromolecular therapeutics offer several advantages over conventional low molecular therapeutics by various ways such as, enable the use of larger doses of these agents by limiting the toxicity, by enhanced permeability and retention into tumors, by tumor targeting using tumor-specific antibodies, by specific inhibition of oncogenes using anticancer oligonucleotides etc. Cancer treatment using this macromolecular therapeutics has considerably improved the survival benefit for patients. As a result, various macromolecular therapeutics are already commercialized or are under clinical development. Although we are far from a real magic bullet today, looking at the pace of research and current success in this field of macromolecular therapeutics, it appears that we are approaching a magic bullet for the efficient treatment of cancer. Thus, we believe that the subject of this book is very timely, and that the book will fill an unmet need in the market. This book is unique and assembles various types and aspects of macromolecular anticancer therapeutics for cancer therapy in one shell and conveys the importance of this interdisciplinary field to the broad audience. Thus, in a nutshell, this book details the basics of cancer, and various therapeutic strategies such as those based on macromolecular therapeutics hence can become an important reference for practitioners, oncologists, medical pharmacologists, medicinal chemists, biomedical scientists, experimental pharmacologists, pharmaceutical technologists, and particularly it can essentially become a handbook of macromolecular therapeutics for cancer therapy for graduates, post-graduates and Ph.D. students in these fields.

Site-specific drug delivery and targeting attracts much research interest from both academia and industry, but because of the many challenges faced in the development of these systems, only a handful of targeted therapies have successfully made it into clinical practice. Focusing on the delivery technologies that utilize both systemic and local rou

Proceedings of the International Symposium on Polymer Therapeutics - Recent Progress in Clinics and Future Prospects, held July 13-14, 2001, in Nara, Japan. The technology of polymer science has developed considerably during the past half-century, and this volume describes some of the aspects of this technology that will have a great impact in the future. Among these advances, for example, are gene delivery to specific disease sites and carrier polymers that respond to a stimulus or particular environment. Cancer targeted drug delivery is another focused area of this volume because of the important nature of EPR-effect of polymer drugs in tumor. Included are discussions of as many examples as possible of polymer drugs that have achieved, or are close to clinical use. The concept of "Polymer drugs" here is limited to primarily injectable and water-soluble agents, although also covered are some drugs in micellar form or liposomes. This book is intended for students and researchers in the field of pharmacology who have particular interests in drug delivery, targeting, and formulation, as well as for clinicians such as oncologists who are interested in the field. People who work at regulatory agencies should also be aware such that drugs with great potential are being developed and will be beneficial to many patients, as well as to health insurance agencies because of improved cost effectiveness.

Neuroimmune pharmacology seeks to harness the immune system to provide pharmacological intervention to combat neurodegenerative diseases. This book provides a comprehensive overview of topics that embrace the link between the immune system and the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders. Results from recent studies strongly suggest that a major part of the process in diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s as well as Prion diseases, comes from changes in the innate and adaptive arms of the brain and peripheral immune systems. Thus, the book provides an in-depth study of numerous fields including immunology, pharmacology, neuroscience and neurovirology. It is accompanied by a CD-ROM that includes access to lectures, slide presentations, and question and answers on neuroimmune pharmacology.

PEGylation technology and key applications are introduced by this topical volume. Basic physical and chemical properties of PEG as basis for altering/improving in vivo behaviour of PEG-conjugates such as increased stability, improved PK/PD, and decreased immunogenicity, are discussed. Furthermore, chemical and enzymatic strategies for the coupling and the conjugate characterization are reported. Following chapters describe approved and marketed PEG-proteins and PEG-oligonucleotides as well as conjugates in various stages of clinical development.

Medicinal Chemistry of Anticancer Drugs, Second Edition, provides an updated treatment from the point of view of medicinal chemistry and drug design, focusing on the mechanism of action of antitumor drugs from the molecular level, and on the relationship between chemical structure and chemical and biochemical reactivity of antitumor agents. Antitumor chemotherapy is a very active field of research, and a huge amount of information on the topic is generated every year. Cytotoxic chemotherapy is gradually being supplemented by a new generation of drugs that recognize specific targets on the surface or inside cancer cells, and resistance to antitumor drugs continues to be investigated. While these therapies are in their infancy, they hold promise of more effective therapies with fewer side effects. Although many books are available that deal with clinical aspects of cancer chemotherapy, this book provides a sorely needed update from the point of view of medicinal chemistry and drug design. Presents information in a clear and concise way using a large number of figures Historical background provides insights on how the process of drug discovery in the anticancer field has evolved Extensive references to primary literature

These volumes represent a comprehensive guide to prodrugs. They guide the reader through the current status of the prodrug concept and its many applications and highlight its many successes in overcoming formulation and delivery of problematic drugs. Replete with examples of approved and marketed prodrugs, these volumes introduce the topic to the novice as well as professional in the design of prodrugs.