Abstract:

A review. During the last twenty years dendrimers have attracted wide interest as potential therapeutics. These novel macromols. differ in many ways from traditional polymers. Dendrimers are globular, possessing a core mol. to which layers of branched monomers are attached. The no. of layers is described by so-called generations. The structure of dendrimers results in plenty of terminal surface groups and empty internal cavities. Both these features are important when considering dendrimers for biomedical applications. Moreover, precise methods of synthesis enable the tailoring of dendrimers to specific purposes. In this concise review, a few examples of the part dendrimers play in anti-cancer therapies will be presented. It is worth stressing that these examples of pharma applications of dendrimers do not include all areas of study that are presently being conducted, and that each year produce new ways to use dendrimers in medicine. [on SciFinder(R)]