Implantable and long-lasting drug delivery systems for cancer treatment

Cancer represents a huge global health issue and socioeconomic burden. Despite the development of novel therapies, the current cancer treatment is still limited mainly due to systemic toxicity, drug resistance, or pharmacokinetic issues. Therefore alternative delivery systems are needed to improve the efficacy of tumor-targeted drugs. Implantable and long-lasting drug delivery systems (DDS) emerge as a novel and promising therapeutic approach to address these problems. Through local administration and sustained release, they efficiently deliver high drug payloads in the tumor sites, improving drug bioavailability and avoiding healthy tissue damage. Moreover, owing to their unique properties, implant drug release might be closely adjusted over time, creating patient-friendly and versatile platforms. Herein, we intend to address the main features that make implantable DDS suitable for cancer treatment and highlight chemotherapy, hyperthermia, photodynamic therapy, gene therapy, and immunotherapy innovative strategies, based on implantable platforms.