Localised Drug Delivery for the Treatment of Cancer

Cancer is a major global public health problem, with 1 in 4 deaths in the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) due to cancer [1, 2]. However, in the US between 2006 and 2010 cancer death rates decreased by 1.8% per year in men and 1.4% per year in women, while in the last two decades cancer death rates have declined by 20% [1]. A similar trend can be seen in the UK with deaths due to cancer decreasing by 27% in males and 20% in females between 1990 and 2012 [2]. Deaths due to cancer are predicted to fall by 17% between 2011 and 2030 in the UK [3]. Treatment will depend on the type and stage of the cancer as well as the patient's general health and whether or not they will be able to tolerate the treatment. For example, early stage cancers which are localized to a particular anatomical site (i.e. cervix, bladder etc.) without evidence of spreading or intermediate cancers, with a much larger mass and/or evidence of having spread to the lymph nodes maybe removed by surgical resection followed by chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy to kill any remaining cancer cells and reduce the risk of resection, while the treatment option for late stage cancers, which have spread to other parts of the body is usually chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. However, partial surgical resection of late stage cancers can be used for palliative care and to improve the patient's quality of life [4, 5], but must be considered against the risks to the patient. The 5 year survival rate for most cancers is higher at either an early or intermediate stage diagnosis compared to late stage diagnosis [6]. All current cancer treatments can be very invasive and involve extended stays in or repeated visits to the hospital and in the case of chemo and radiotherapy can result in significant side-effects, reducing the patients overall quality of life during the treatment.