Formulations for pulmonary administration of anticancer agents to treat lung malignancies.

Chemotherapy plays a significant role both as primary and as supportive care for lung cancer treatment. The majority of currently available anticancer agents are administrated intravenously, causing side effects due to the systemic drug distribution. Alternatively, the bioavailability of orally administrated anticancer agents is usually compromised by the first-pass metabolism. Pulmonary administration may be a potential route for anticancer drug delivery to treat lung tumors, due to its site specific delivery, avoidance of first-pass metabolism, possibility of fewer side effects, and improved comfort for cancer patients using a needle-free delivery device. However, to attain an effective inhalational delivery, there is a requirement to design a formulation with appropriate aerodynamic properties with well-suited excipients. This review article explores work to date related to the formulations developed for pulmonary delivery of small molecule antineoplastic agents to treat primary and metastatic lung carcinomas. Ultimately, it highlights the importance of formulation design to define the role of inhalational chemotherapy.