Glycoconjugation: An approach to cancer therapeutics

Abstract

Cancer constitutes the second leading cause of death globally and is consideredto have been responsible for an estimated 9.6 million fatalities in 2018. Although treatments against gastrointestinal tumors have recently advanced, those interventions can only be applied to a minority of patients at the time ofdiagnosis. Therefore, new therapeutic options are necessary for advanced stagesof the disease. Glycosylation of antitumor agents, has been found to improvepharmacokinetic parameters, reduce side effects, and expand drug half-life incomparison with the parent compounds. In addition, glycosylation of therapeuticagents has been proven to be an effective strategy for their targeting tumor tissue, thereby reducing the doses of the glycodrugs administered to patients. This review focusses on the effect of the targeting properties of glycosylated antitumor agents on gastrointestinal tumors.