Erythrocyte-derived drug delivery systems in cancer therapy

As natural blood components, erythrocytes were good candidates for being used as drug delivery systems to improve the pharmacokinetics, biocompatibility and many other aspects of different drugs. The advantages brought by erythrocytes making erythrocyte-derived drug delivery systems, also known as erythrocyte carriers, suitable for various anti-cancer agents, especially newly invented agents like nanoparticles, which were characterized by their undesired systematic toxicity, anaphylactic reactions and poor biocompatibility. Current researches on erythrocyte carriers in cancer therapy showed inspiring results in four major aspects: cancer enzyme therapy, delivering chemotherapeutic agents, combining with nanoparticles, and several other anti-cancer agents for gene or immune therapy. This novel delivering system was now undergoing the translation process from laboratory to clinical practice. Erythrocyte carriers for cancer enzyme therapy have entered the stage of clinical trial and have showed promising outcomes, and others were still at pre-clinical stage. In summary, erythrocyte-derived drug delivery system might play an indispensable role in the management of cancer in the future. (C) 2020 Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.