Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2001 May-Jun;7(3):219-27.

Clinical applications of a novel sustained-release injectable drug delivery system: DepoFoam technology

S B Howell  1
Affiliations
  • PMID: 11419030
Review

Clinical applications of a novel sustained-release injectable drug delivery system: DepoFoam technology

S B Howell. Cancer J. 2001 May-Jun.

Abstract

The therapeutic effectiveness of drugs is often limited by the inability to sustain therapeutic levels at the target site. Encapsulation of drugs in multivesicular lipid-based particles for sustained release is a novel approach to improving the pharmacokinetics of drug therapy. This paper reviews the preclinical and clinical literature on the applications and potential therapeutic benefits of DepoFoam technology, a novel sustained-release, injectable drug delivery system. DepoFoam formulations of drugs, including anticancer agents (cytarabine, methotrexate, bleomycin, recombinant interferon alfa, 5-fluorouridine-5'-monophosphate, and others), anti-infective agents (dideoxycytidine, 2'-norcyclic guanosine monophosphate, cidofovir, tobramycin, gentamicin, amikacin), analgesics (morphine, bupivacaine), and macromolecules (insulin, interleukin-2), delivered intrathecally, subcutaneously, intraperitoneally, or intralesionally, provide sustained therapeutic levels of drug at the intended target site and reduce systemic exposure and toxicity. Pharmacokinetic studies have demonstrated that DepoFoam particle encapsulation effectively extends the half-life of drugs, thus prolonging the duration of therapeutic drug concentrations in local tissues or in body spaces into which the encapsulated drug is injected. In the case of cell-cycle phase-specific chemotherapeutic agents, such formulations can improve efficacy and therapeutic ratio. DepoFoam is a promising drug delivery system for sustained release of hydrophilic injectable drugs that has a wide range of potential applications in oncology, infectious disease, analgesia, and other therapeutic areas.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources