Review
Copyright ©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 16, 2014; 2(12): 742-756
Published online Dec 16, 2014. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v2.i12.742
Drug-targeting methodologies with applications: A review
Clement Kleinstreuer, Yu Feng, Emily Childress
Clement Kleinstreuer, Yu Feng, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, United States
Emily Childress, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Mercer University, Macon, GA 31207, United States
Author contributions: Feng Y and Childress E conducted the literature reviews, and drafted and formatted Section 2 and Section 3, respectively; Kleinstreuer C designed and revised the manuscript and finalized the submitted version.
Supported by National Science Foundation, No. NSF-CBET 1232988 and ANSYS Inc. (Canonsburg, PA)
Correspondence to: Clement Kleinstreuer, PhD, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, United States. ck@ncsu.edu
Telephone: +1-919-5155261 Fax: +1-919-5157968
Received: May 28, 2014
Revised: September 16, 2014
Accepted: October 14, 2014
Published online: December 16, 2014
Processing time: 203 Days and 17.6 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Targeted drug delivery to diseased areas or solid tumors has the great potential to significantly improve treatment efficacy, minimize side-effects, and reduce health-care cost. The major problem addressed is how to deliver efficiently the drug-particles from the entry/infusion point to the target site. Past and present developments in drug formulation and associated drug-delivery devices are discussed. Examples of optimal drug delivery to pulmonary target sites as well as targeting solid tumors in the vascular system are reviewed.