Glycoconjugation: An approach to cancer therapeutics

MOLEJON, MARIA I; WEIZ, GISELA; BRECCIA, JAVIER D; VACCARO, MARIA INES

World Journal of Clinical Oncology

Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.

Año: 2020 vol. 11 p. 110 - 120

2218-4333

World J Clin Oncol. 2020 Mar 24; 11(3): 110?120. Published online 2020 Mar 24. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v11.i3.110PMCID: PMC7103525PMID: 32257842Glycoconjugation: An approach to cancer therapeuticsMaria I Molejon, Gisela Weiz, Javier D Breccia, and Maria Ines VaccaroAuthor information Article notes Copyright and License information DisclaimerGo to:AbstractCancer constitutes the second leading cause of death globally and is considered to have been responsible for an estimated 9.6 million fatalities in 2018. Although treatments against gastrointestinal tumors have recently advanced, those interventions can only be applied to a minority of patients at the time of diagnosis. Therefore, new therapeutic options are necessary for advanced stages of the disease. Glycosylation of antitumor agents, has been found to improve pharmacokinetic parameters, reduce side effects, and expand drug half-life in comparison with the parent compounds. In addition, glycosylation of therapeutic agents has been proven to be an effective strategy for their targeting tumor tissue, thereby reducing the doses of the glycodrugs administered to patients. This review focusses on the effect of the targeting properties of glycosylated antitumor agents on gastrointestinal tumors.Keywords: Glycosylation, Gastrointestinal cancers, Antitumoral agents, Therapeutic strategies, Drug targeting