LAKKIREDDY HARIVARDHAN REDDY1

Delivery of drugs to the target sites by the use of carrier systems has recently been the major area of drug delivery research. Incorporation of drugs into delivery carriers prevents drugs from degradation, targets the drug to the site of action and reduces toxi-city or side effects by modifying their in vivo distribution (1). Delivery of anticancer ag-ents using carrier systems with an objective of enhancing their tumor concentrations has been widely attempted (2–5). Over the years, surfactants have been of pharmaceutical interest either as drug carriers or, more recently, as targeting systems. From the toxico-logical point of view, non-ionic surfactants are generally regarded as safe and most suit-143 Acta Pharm. 56 (2006) 143–155 Original research paper Enhanced delivery of etoposide to Dalton’s lymphoma in mice through polysorbate 20 micelle