Despite low prevalence, brain tumors are one of the most lethal forms of cancer. Unfortunately the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a highly regulated, well coordinated and efficient barrier, checks the permeation of most of the drugs across it. Hence, crossing this barrier is one of the most significant challenges in the development of efficient central nervous system therapeutics. Surface-engineered dendrimers improve biocompatibility, drug-release kinetics and aptitude to target the BBB and/or tumors and facilitate transportation of anticancer bioactives across the BBB. This review sheds light on different aspects of brain tumors and dendrimers based on different approaches for treatment including recent research, opportunities and challenges encountered in development of novel and efficient dendrimer-based therapeutics for the treatment of brain tumors.
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.