ABSTRACT
The folate receptor is highly selective tumor marker overexpressed in epithelioid cancer cells. As a targeting method ,folic acid mediated nanoscale drug delivery system has the advantages of folate-folate receptor's active targeting and nanoscale drug delivery's passive targeting. Active and passive targeting enable nanoscale drug delivery system release drugs in the location of tumor, which increases therapeutic index of drug and cuts down its side effect. In this article, we review folate-liposome , folate-dendrimer, folate-micelle, folate-nanophere and other folate receptor mediated tumor-targeting nanoscale drug delivery systems. Compared to traditional preparations, the novel nanoscale drug delivery system may offer a very promising approach for tumor-targeting therapy.