Nanomaterials for cancer therapy: current progress and perspectives

Journal of Hematology & Oncology

Raja Dey¹  Zhe Cheng²  Maoyu Li³  Yongheng Chen³ 

[1] Department of Nucleotide Metabolism and Drug Discovery, The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota, 55912, Austin, MN, USA;Department of Oncology, NHC Key Laboratory of Cancer Proteomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 410008, Changsha, Hunan, China;Department of Oncology, NHC Key Laboratory of Cancer Proteomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 410008, Changsha, Hunan, China;National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 410008, Changsha, Hunan, China;

关键词: Nanomaterial;    Cancer therapy;    Tumor microenvironment;    Exosome;    Blood–brain barrier;    Drug delivery;    Protein corona;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13045-021-01096-0

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Cancer is a disease with complex pathological process. Current chemotherapy faces problems such as lack of specificity, cytotoxicity, induction of multi-drug resistance and stem-like cells growth. Nanomaterials are materials in the nanorange 1–100 nm which possess unique optical, magnetic, and electrical properties. Nanomaterials used in cancer therapy can be classified into several main categories. Targeting cancer cells, tumor microenvironment, and immune system, these nanomaterials have been modified for a wide range of cancer therapies to overcome toxicity and lack of specificity, enhance drug capacity as well as bioavailability. Although the number of studies has been increasing, the number of approved nano-drugs has not increased much over the years. To better improve clinical translation, further research is needed for targeted drug delivery by nano-carriers to reduce toxicity, enhance permeability and retention effects, and minimize the shielding effect of protein corona. This review summarizes novel nanomaterials fabricated in research and clinical use, discusses current limitations and obstacles that hinder the translation from research to clinical use, and provides suggestions for more efficient adoption of nanomaterials in cancer therapy.

【 授权许可】

CC BY