Novel Taxoid-Based Tumor-Targeting Drug Conjugates.

A long standing problem of conventional cancer chemotherapy is the lack of tumor specificity. Tumor-targeting drug delivery systems have been explored to overcome this problem. These systems combine a powerful cytotoxic anticancer agent with a tumor-targeting molecule via a suitable linker to form highly efficacious drug-conjugates. These conjugates can deliver potent cytotoxic drugs specifically to tumors and cancer cells with minimal systemic toxicity. This article describes the design, development and application of novel taxoid-based tumor-targeting drug-conjugates, which possess excellent specificity and efficacy in vitro and in vivo.