Resveratrol (3,4',5-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene) has been expected to ameliorate cancer and foster breakthroughs in cancer therapy. Despite thousands of preclinical studies on the anticancer activity of resveratrol, little progress has been made in translational research and clinical trials. Most studies have focused on its anticancer effects, cellular mechanisms, and signal transduction pathways in vitro and in vivo. In this review, we aimed to discern the causes that prevent resveratrol from being used in cancer treatment. Among the various limitations, poor pharmacokinetics and low potency seem to be the two main bottlenecks of resveratrol. In addition, resveratrol-induced nephrotoxicity in multiple myeloma patients hinders its further development as an anticancer drug. New insights and strategies have been proposed to accelerate the conversion of resveratrol from bench to bedside. In the interim, the most promising approach is to enhance the bioavailability of resveratrol with new formulations. Alternatively, more potent analogues of resveratrol could be developed to augment its anticancer potency. Given all the gaps mentioned, much work remains to be done. However, if remarkable progress can be made, resveratrol may finally be used for cancer therapy.

The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing to prepare intragastric floating sustained release (FSR) tablets. Domperidone (DOM), an insoluble weak base, was chosen as a model drug to investigate the potential of FSR in increasing its oral bioavailability and reducing its administration frequency. DOM was successfully loaded into hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) filaments using hot melt extrusion (HME). The filaments were then printed into hollow structured tablets through changing the shell numbers and the infill percentages. Physical characterization results indicated that the majority of DOM gradually turned into the amorphous form during the fabrication process. The optimized formulation (contain 10% DOM, with 2 shells and 0% infill) exhibited the sustained release characteristic and was able to float for about 10 h in vitro. Radiographic images showed that the BaSO₄-labeled tablets were retained in the stomach of rabbits for more than 8 h. Furthermore, pharmacokinetic studies showed the relative bioavailability of the FSR tablets compared with reference commercial tablets was 222.49 ± 62.85%. All the results showed that FDM based 3D printing might be a promising way to fabricate hollow tablets for the purpose of intragastric floating drug delivery.

In the last decade, the tremendous improvement in the sensitivity and also affordability of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has revolutionized its application in pharmaceutical analysis, resulting in widespread employment of LC-MS/MS in determining pharmaceutical compounds, including anticancer drugs in pharmaceutical research and also industries. Currently, LC-MS/MS has been widely used to quantify small molecule oncology drugs in various biological matrices to support preclinical and clinical pharmacokinetic studies in R&D of oncology drugs. This mini-review article will describe the state-of-the-art LC-MS/MS and its application in rapid quantification of small molecule anticancer drugs. In addition, efforts have also been made in this review to address several key aspects in the development of rapid LC-MS/MS methods, including sample preparation, chromatographic separation, and matrix effect evaluation.