Polymeric micelles have gained interest as novel drug delivery systems for the treatment and diagnosis of cancer, as they offer several advantages over conventional drug therapies. This includes dr...

Paclitaxel is one of the most widely used and effective antineoplastic agents derived from natural sources. It has a wide spectrum of antitumor activity, particularly against ovarian cancer, breast cancer, nonsmall cell lung cancer, head and neck tumors, Kaposi's sarcoma, and urologic malignancies. It is a highly lipophilic compound with a log P value of 3.96 and very poor aqueous solubility of less than 0.01 mg/mL. In addition, the compound lacks functional groups that are ionizable which could potentially lead to an increase in its solubility with the alteration in pH. Therefore, the delivery of paclitaxel is associated with substantial challenges. Until the introduction of Abraxane, only commercial formulation was solution of paclitaxel in cremophor, which caused severe side effects. However, in recent years, a number of approaches have been reported to solubilize paclitaxel using cosolvents and inclusion complexes. In addition, innovative approaches have been reported for passive targeting of tumors using nanoparticles, nanosuspensions, liposomes, emulsions, micelles, implants, pastes and gels. All approaches for delivery of improved therapeutic outcome have been discussed in this paper.

There has been an increased emphasis on scholarly activities by health sciences faculty members given the importance of the promotion of public health over the last 50 years. Consequently, faculty ...

The development of mucoadhesive formulations of buprenorphine for intended sublingual usage in the treatment of drug addiction is described. The formulations include mucoadhesive polymer films, with or without plasticizers, and mucoadhesive polymer tablets, with or without excipients that enhance drug release and/or improve tablet compaction properties. The mucoadhesive polymers studied include carbomers such as Carbopol 934P, Carbopol 974P, and the polycarbophil Noveon AA-1, with excipients chosen from pregelatinized starch, lactose, glycerol, propylene glycol, and various molecular weights of polyethylene glycol. The development of plasticizer-containing mucoadhesive polymer films was feasible; however, these films failed to release their entire drug content within a reasonable period. Thus, they were not determined suitable for sublingual usage because of possible loss by ingestion during routine meal intakes. The mucoadhesive strength of tablet formulations containing Noveon AA-1 appears to be slightly superior to the Carbopol-containing tablets. However, the Carbopol 974P formulations exhibited superior drug dissolution profiles while providing adequate mucoadhesive strength. The tablet formulations containing Carbopol 974P as mucoadhesive polymer, lactose as drug release enhancer, and PEG 3350 as compaction enhancer exhibited the best results. Overall, the mucoadhesive tablet formulations exhibited superior results compared with the mucoadhesive film formulations.