MULTIDRUG-RESISTANCE DURING CANCER-CHEMOTHERAPY - BIOTECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS TO A CLINICAL PROBLEM

Tumour cells can be resistant to a variety of chemotherapeutic drugs o f different structure (multidrug resistance) by expressing a transmemb rane pump (P-glycoprotein) on their cell surface. This situation can l ead to a failure of cancer chemotherapy as the P-glycoprotein acts by actively pumping the drugs out of cells, thus lowering the intracellul ar concentration of the drug and, hence, its cytotoxic effectiveness. This review summarizes present and proposed approaches to preventing o r circumventing the action of this drug-transporting protein.