Review Article Optimization of Drug Delivery Systems for Intraperitoneal Therapy to Extend the Residence Time of the Chemotherapeutic Agent

Copyright © 2013 L. De Smet et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy is an effective way of treating peritoneal carcinomatosis of colorectal origin after complete cytoreduction. Although IP therapy has been already performed for many years, no standardized treatment design has been developed in terms of schedule, residence time, drug, or carrier solution. Because of the fast clearance of the conventional intravenous (IV) drug delivery systems used for IP therapy, a lot of research is performed to optimize IP drug delivery and extend the residence time of the cytotoxic agent in the peritoneal cavity.This paper reviews the recent advances made in drug delivery systems for IP chemotherapy, discussing the use of microparticles, nanoparticles, liposomes, micelles, implants, and injectable depots for IP delivery. 1