Review of peptide-drug conjugates designed to penetrate both the blood-brain barrier and blood-brain tumor barrier for delivering anti-cancer drugs directly to brain tumors.
Dual barrier crossingPeptide-drug conjugates engineered to penetrate both the blood-brain barrier and blood-brain tumor barrier for brain cancer treatment
What the researchers found
Brain-penetrating peptide-drug conjugates can cross both the BBB and BBTB to deliver cancer drugs to brain tumors, with several promising candidates in preclinical and early clinical development.
Why it matters
Brain tumors like glioblastoma have median survival under 2 years partly because drugs cannot reach them. Peptides that breach the blood-brain barrier could transform brain cancer treatment by enabling targeted drug delivery.
The numbers in context
Nearly 50% of late-stage lung cancer patients develop brain metastases; the PDC achieved drug accumulation in brain tumor lesions.
How the study worked
Narrative review of published literature on BBB/BBTB-penetrating peptide-drug conjugates for brain tumor therapy.
Who was studied
Lung cancer brain metastasis animal models
What this study cannot tell us
Most BBB-penetrating PDCs are in preclinical stages. The barrier properties differ between mouse models and human brains. Brain tumor heterogeneity means no single PDC will work for all cases.
How to read the evidence
Preliminary evidence: review of a developing field with most work in preclinical stages.
When this study was published
Published in 2024. Covers the latest advances in brain-penetrating peptide drug delivery.
The bigger picture
The blood-brain barrier protects the brain but also prevents treatment of brain diseases. Peptide-based strategies to cross this barrier represent one of the most active areas in drug delivery research, with implications beyond cancer for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other neurological diseases.
Questions still open
- Which brain-penetrating peptides are closest to clinical use for brain tumors?
- Can BBB-penetrating PDCs achieve sufficient drug concentrations to treat glioblastoma?
- Could these peptides also deliver immunotherapy agents to brain tumors?
Common questions
Why is it so hard to treat brain tumors?
What are peptide-drug conjugates?
Read the original research
Blood-brain barrier and blood-brain tumor barrier penetrating peptide-drug conjugate as targeted therapy for the treatment of lung cancer brain metastasis.
Lung cancer (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 196, 107957
Citation
Zheng, Meng-Zhu; Yang, Zhan-Qun; Cai, Sun-Li; Zheng, Li-Ting; Xue, Yuan; Chen, Long; Lin, Jian. (2024). Blood-brain barrier and blood-brain tumor barrier penetrating peptide-drug conjugate as targeted therapy for the treatment of lung cancer brain metastasis.. Lung cancer (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 196, 107957. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lungcan.2024.107957