Nanoparticles delivery to cancer: Approaches and limitation

Journal of Pharmaceutical Negative Results, 2022

Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity with a complex pathophysiology. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy and immune therapies are examples of traditional cancer treatments. However, drawbacks such as cytotoxicity, lack of selectivity, and multi drug resistance provide a significant challenges for a effective cancer treatment. The field of cancer diagnosis and therapy has undergone a revolution with the development of nanotechnology. Due to their unique benefits such as biocompatibility, less toxicity, more excellent stability higher permeability and retention effects and specific targeting, nanoparticles(1-100nm) can be utilized to treat the cancer. There are numerous major categories in to which nanoparticles fall. The unique nanoparticle medication delivery technology makes use of features of the tumour surroundings the tumour. Nanoparticles not only circumvent multi drug resistance but also address the shortcomings of conventional cancer treatments. Moreover, nanoparticles are being aggressively researched as new multi drug resistance pathways are uncovered and analysed. New ideas on cancer treatment have been opened up by the therapeutic implications of nanoformulations. The majority of research, however, is restricted to in vivo and in vitro studies, and the number of authorised nanodrugs has not increased enormously over time. This review covers a wide range of nanoparticle types, and approved nanoparticles for use in the treatment of cancer.

international journal of engineering technology and management sciences, 2024

In this paper, the role of nanoparticles which is revolutionizing the cancer treatment is presented in brief. The nanoparticles have become a popular choice in drug delivery due to their unique physicochemical properties, which offer various advantages for drug solubility improvement, specific cell targeting, controlled drug release, protection against degradation or elimination, and reduced toxicity to healthy cells. These properties have made nanoparticles a valuable tool in drug delivery for a wide range of diseases. Nanoparticles can be engineered to specifically target cells or tissues, which can increase drug efficacy while reducing side effects. Nanoparticles can also improve drug solubility in water, leading to better delivery and efficacy of poorly soluble drugs. Controlled drug release from nanoparticles provides sustained drug delivery, reducing the need for frequent dosing and improving patient compliance. Additionally, nanoparticles can protect drugs from degradation or...

Cancer nanotherapeutics are rapidly progressing and are being implemented to solve several limitations of conventional drug delivery systems such as nonspecific biodistribution and targeting, lack of water solubility, poor oral bioavailability, and low therapeutic indices. To improve the bio-distribution of cancer drugs, nanoparticles have been designed for optimal size and surface characteristics to increase their circulation time in the bloodstream. They are also able to carry their loaded active drugs to cancer cells by selectively using the unique pathophysiology of tumors, such as their enhanced permeability and retention effect and the tumor microenvironment. In addition to this passive targeting mechanism, active targeting strategies using ligands or antibodies directed against selected tumor targets amplify the specificity of these therapeutic nanoparticles. Drug resistance, another obstacle that impedes the efficacy of both molecularly targeted and conventional chemotherapeutic agents, might also be overcome, or at least reduced, using nanopar-ticles. Nanoparticles have the ability to accumulate in cells without being recognized by P-glycoprotein, one of the main mediators of multidrug resistance, resulting in the increased intra-cellular concentration of drugs. Multifunctional and multiplex nanoparticles are now being actively investigated and are on the horizon as the next generation of nanoparticles, facilitating personal-ized and tailored cancer treatment.

Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 2013

The tremendous contribution of nanotechnology to the treatment and diagnosis of medical diseases has recently attracted the attention of anticancer researchers. Most of the new nanoparticle carriers have improved drug bioavailability and reduced the cytotoxic effects of the drugs. This article presents an overview of the recent advances of nanotechnology in cancer therapy. It covers the mechanisms of cellular uptake for anticancer drugs delivered in nanoscale systems by either active or passive targeting. The various nanoscale systems employed in drug delivery and their immense potential in diagnosis and imaging of cancerous tumors are also addressed.

Journal of Functional Biomaterials

The advent of nanotechnology has brought about revolutionary innovations in biological research techniques and medical practice. In recent years, various “smart” nanocarriers have been introduced to deliver therapeutic agents specifically to the tumor tissue in a controlled manner, thereby minimizing their side effects and reducing both dosage and dosage frequency. A large number of nanoparticles have demonstrated initial success in preclinical evaluation but modest therapeutic benefits in the clinical setting, partly due to insufficient delivery to the tumor site and penetration in tumor tissue. Therefore, a precise understanding of the relationships betweenthe physicochemical properties of nanoparticles and their interaction with the surrounding microenvironment in the body is extremely important for achieving higher concentrations and better functionality in tumor tissues. This knowledge would help to effectively combine multiple advantageous functions in one nanoparticle. The ma...

Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology

Cancer nanotherapeutics are swiftly progressing and are being applied to solve several limitations of conventional drug delivery systems such as non-specific biodistribution and targeting, lack of water solubility and poor oral bioavailability. Advances in protein engineering and materials science have contributed to novel nanoscale targeting approaches that may bring new hope to cancer patients. Several therapeutic nanocarriers have been approved for clinical use. Nanoparticles have been designed for optimal size and surface characteristics to improve their biodistribution and to increase their circulation time in the bloodstream. By selectively using the unique pathophysiology of tumours, such as their enhanced permeability and retention effect nanotherapeutics are able to carry loaded active drug to cancer cells. In addition to this passive targeting mechanism, active targeting strategies using ligands or antibodies directed against selected tumour targets magnify the specificity of these therapeutic nanoparticles. Drug resistance, another obstacle can also be overcome or reduced by using nanoparticles. Multifunctional and multiplex nanoparticles are now being actively investigated and are on the horizon as the next generation of nanoparticles, facilitating personalized and tailored cancer treatment.

Journal of Drug Delivery, 2012

Clinical and Translational Oncology, 2012

Conventional anticancer drugs display signifi cant shortcomings which limit their use in cancer therapy. For this reason, important progress has been achieved in the fi eld of nanotechnology to solve these problems and offer a promising and effective alternative for cancer treatment. Nanoparticle drug delivery systems exploit the abnormal characteristics of tumour tissues to selectively target their payloads to cancer cells, either by passive, active or triggered targeting. Additionally, nanoparticles can be easily tuned to improve their properties, thereby increasing the therapeutic index of the drug. Liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, polymeric micelles and polymer-or lipid-drug conjugate nanoparticles incorporating cytotoxic therapeutics have been developed; some of them are already on the market and others are under clinical and preclinical research. However, there is still much research to be done to be able to defeat the limitations of traditional anticancer therapy. This review focuses on the potential of nanoparticle delivery systems in cancer treatment and the current advances achieved.

World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2017

Prior studies suggested that nano particle drug delivery might improve the therapeutic response to anticancer drugs and allow the simultaneous monitoring of drug uptake by tumours. Cancer nano therapeutics are rapidly progressing and are being implemented to solve several limitations of conventional drug delivery systems such as nonspecific bio distribution and targeting, lack of water solubility, poor oral bioavailability, and low therapeutic indices. To improve the bio distribution of cancer drugs, nano particles have been designed for optimal size and surface characteristics to increase their circulation time in the bloodstream. They are also able to carry their loaded active drugs to cancer cells by selectively using the unique pathophysiology of tumours, such as their enhanced permeability and retention effect and the tumor microenvironment. In addition to this passive targeting mechanism, active targeting strategies using ligands or antibodies directed against selected tumor targets amplify the specificity of these therapeutic nano particles. Drug resistance, another obstacle that impedes the efficacy of both molecularly targeted and conventional chemotherapeutic agents, might also be overcome, or at least reduced, using nano particles. Nano particles have the ability to accumulate in cells without being recognized by P-glycoprotein, one of the main mediators of multidrug resistance, resulting in the increased intracellular concentration of drugs. Multifunctional and multiplex nano particles are now being actively investigated and are on the horizon as the next generation of nano particles, facilitating personalized and tailored cancer treatment. Targeting methotrexate increased its antitumor activity and markedly decreased its toxicity, allowing therapeutic responses not possible with a free drug.

ISRN Nanotechnology, 2014

Nanoparticles are rapidly being developed and trialed to overcome several limitations of traditional drug delivery systems and are coming up as a distinct therapeutics for cancer treatment. Conventional chemotherapeutics possess some serious side effects including damage of the immune system and other organs with rapidly proliferating cells due to nonspecific targeting, lack of solubility, and inability to enter the core of the tumors resulting in impaired treatment with reduced dose and with low survival rate. Nanotechnology has provided the opportunity to get direct access of the cancerous cells selectively with increased drug localization and cellular uptake. Nanoparticles can be programmed for recognizing the cancerous cells and giving selective and accurate drug delivery avoiding interaction with the healthy cells. This review focuses on cell recognizing ability of nanoparticles by various strategies having unique identifying properties that distinguish them from previous antic...