Background:
Due to the increasing prevalence of cancer, and the inadequacy of current
therapies, the development of novel antitumor pharmaceutics, with higher efficacies and
lower adverse effects, is considered a fundamental tenet of contemporary cancer
management. Poly-Ethylene-Glycol (PEG) attachment is a novel pharmaceutical technology
to improve the efficacy and safety of chemotherapies. Etirinotecan Pegol (EP), also known as
NKTR-102, is the PEGylated form of Irinotecan (CPT-11), which causes cancer cell
apoptosis by inhibiting the topoisomerase I enzyme.
Objectives:
The present study reviews and evaluates various reports of the EP anti-tumor
activity in various cancers.
Data sources:
Studies were identified using the Scopus database, with no exclusions. The
search terms included Etirinotecan Pegol and NKTR-102, which yielded 125 articles (66 and
59 articles, respectively). In addition, the clinicaltrials.gov web site was used to find ongoing
studies, which resulted in the addition of two studies.
Study Eligibility Criteria: Subsequently, we excluded studies that were published in
languages other than English, duplicate articles, and studies with no data.
Results and Conclusion:
This systematic review clarifies that EP possesses numerous
advantages over many other medications, such as safety, efficacy, increased half-life,
increased health-related quality of life, increased overall survival, increased progression-free
survival, and decreasing the adverse events in the treatment of various cancers.
Conclusions and Implications of Key Findings:
Therefore, Etirinotecan Pegol may
represent a major contribution to the treatment of various cancers in the future.