Polymeric carriers for delivery of RNA cancer therapeutics

As research uncovers the underpinnings of cancer biology, new targeted therapies have been de-veloped. Many of these therapies are small molecules such as kinase inhibitors that target specific proteins, however only 1% of the genome encodes for proteins and only a subset of these proteins has ‘druggable’ active binding sites. In the last decades, RNA therapeutics have gained populari-ty because of their ability to affect targets that small molecules cannot. Additionally, they can be manufactured more rapidly and cost-effectively than small molecules or recombinant proteins. RNA therapeutics can be synthesized chemically and altered quickly, which can enable a more personalized approach to cancer treatment. Even though a wide range of RNA therapeutics are being developed for various indications in the oncology setting, none has reached the clinic to date. One of the main reasons for this is attributed to the lack of safe and effective delivery sys-tems for this type of therapeutic. This review focuses on current strategies to overcome these chal-lenges and enable the clinical utility of these novel therapeutic agents in the cancer clinic