Polymer drugs have passed multidrug resistance (MDR) testing and hence may become a viable treatment for endocrine-related cancers.
The physical and chemical properties of the polymers used in polymer-drug conjugates are specially synthesized to flow through the kidneys and liver without being filtered out, allowing the drugs to be used more effectively.
[4] The polymer-drug N-(2-Hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymer-doxorubicin (PK1; FCE28068) shows up to a 5 times reduction in anthracycline type toxicity compared to current treatments.
Depending on the desired location, polymer conjugates can be synthesized to either have degradable or non-degradable chemical bonds with their associated drug.
[5] By now only traditional chemotherapeutic agents like doxorubicin, paclitaxel, camptothecins and platinates[check spelling] have been clinically tested in drug conjugates.
A natural polymer dextrin and pendant chain polyacetals, have shown ability of pH-dependent degradation after incorporation into cell compartments.