Recent advances in mechanism-based chemotherapy drug-siRNA pairs in co-delivery systems for cancer: A review

The optimal chemotherapy drug-siRNA pair will provide cancer therapy a promising strategy as definitely synergistic/combined antitumor effect. [Display omitted] •Different mechanism-based siRNAs in co-delivery systems for cancer therapy.•Chemotherapy drugs targeting different mechanisms in co-delivery systems for cancer therapy.•Principles of selection a pair of chemotherapy drug and siRNA in co-delivery systems were summarized. Co-delivery of chemotherapy drugs and siRNA for cancer therapy has achieved remarkable results according to synergistic/combined antitumor effects, and is recognized as a promising therapeutic modality. However, little attention has been paid to the extremely complex mechanisms of chemotherapy drug-siRNA pairs during co-delivery process. Proper selection of chemotherapy drug-siRNA pairs is beneficial for achieving desirable cancer therapeutic effects. Exploring the inherent principles during chemotherapy drug-siRNA pair selection for co-delivery would greatly enhanced therapeutic efficiency. To achieve ideal results, this article will systematically review current different mechanism-based chemotherapy drug-siRNA pairs for co-delivery in cancer treatment. Large-scale library screening of recent different chemotherapy drug-siRNA pairs for co-delivery would help to establish the chemotherapy drug-siRNA pair selection principle, which could pave the way for co-delivery of chemotherapy drugs and siRNA for cancer treatment in clinic. Following the inherent principle of chemotherapy drug-siRNA pair, more effective co-delivery vectors can be designed in the future.