Abstract

Background: Hyaluronan (HA) is a ligand for the CD44 receptor which is crucial to cancer cell proliferation and metastasis. High levels of CD44 expression in many cancers have encouraged the development of HA-based carriers for anti-cancer therapeutics.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to determine whether HA conjugation of anticancer drugs impacts CD44-specific HA-drug uptake and disposition by human head and neck cancer cells.