UC San Diego

Nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel is paclitaxel linked to albumin nanoparticles, which makes it soluble and is an example of an application of nanotechnology for cancer treatment. The development of nanotechnology as a delivery system for nab-paclitaxel has improved the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of paclitaxel, in part by decreasing its hydrophobicity. Nab-paclitaxel in combination with gemcitabine has slightly improved survival in pancreatic cancer, compared to gemcitabine alone, as demonstrated in Phase III clinical trials. Cell cycle phase-specific drugs, such as nab-paclitaxel, which target cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle, can only have limited efficacy since the vast majority of cells in a tumor are quiescent in G0/G1 phase. Recent advances in our laboratory on how to decoy cancer cells to cycle and then trap them in a sensitive phase of the cell cycle, can, in the hopefully near future, allow drugs such as nab-paclitaxel to have high efficacy, even in a treatment-resistant tumor such as pancreatic cancer.