Clinical Methods of Nervous System Drug Delivery for Tumors

Abstract Glioblastoma is the most common malignant tumor of the central nervous system and is extremely aggressive due to its infiltrative nature. Further complicating treatment of glioblastoma is the blood–brain barrier, which limits the delivery and efficacy of systemically administered chemotherapeutic agents. Drugs can be delivered to the central nervous system via several different approaches, the most common of which are systemic delivery and direct injection/implantation into the tumor or surrounding brain. These therapeutic strategies allow administration of a drug to a specific region of the brain, which increases drug bioavailability and efficiency. This chapter provides an overview of the various methods of drug delivery to target brain tumors, aside from the conventional intravenous and oral chemotherapy administration.