Another interesting property of liposomes are their natural ability to target cancer. The endothelial wall of all healthy human blood vessels are encapsulated by endothelial cells that are bound together by tight junctions. These tight junctions stop any large particle in the blood from leaking out of the vessel.
Tumour vessels do not contain the same level of seal between cells and are diagnostically ''leaky''. This ability is known as the Enhanced Permeability and Retention effect.
Liposomes of certain sizes, typically less than 400 nm, can rapidly enter tumour sites from the blood, but are kept in the bloodstream by the endothelial wall in healthy tissue vasculature. Anti-cancer drugs such as Doxorubicin (Doxil), Camptothecin and Daunorubicin (Daunoxome) are currently being marketed in liposome delivery systems.
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