Cancer active targeting by nanoparticles: a comprehensive review of literature

Abstract

Purpose Cancer is one of the leading causes of death, and thus, the scientific community has but great efforts to improve cancer management. Among the major challenges in cancer management is development of agents that can be used for early diagnosis and effective therapy. Conventional cancer management frequently lacks accurate tools for detection of early tumors and has an associated risk of serious side effects of chemotherapeutics. The need to optimize therapeutic ratio as the difference with which a treatment affects cancer cells versus healthy tissues lead to idea that it is needful to have a treatment that could act a the “magic bullet”—recognize cancer cells only. Nanoparticle platforms offer a variety of potentially efficient solutions for development of targeted agents that can be exploited for cancer diagnosis and treatment. There are two ways by which targeting of nanoparticles can be achieved, namely passive and active targeting. Passive targeting allows for the efficient localization of nanoparticles within the tumor microenvironment. Active targeting facilitates the active uptake of nanoparticles by the tumor cells themselves. Methods Relevant English electronic databases and scientifically published original articles and reviews were systematically searched for the purpose of this review. Results In this report, we present a comprehensive review of literatures focusing on the active targeting of nanoparticles to cancer cells, including antibody and antibody fragment-based targeting, antigen-based targeting, aptamer-based targeting, as well as ligand-based targeting. Conclusion To date, the optimum targeting strategy has not yet been announced, each has its own advantages and disadvantages even though a number of them have found their way for clinical application. Perhaps, a combination of strategies can be employed to improve the precision of drug delivery, paving the way for a more effective personalized therapy.

Functionalizing PLGA and PLGA Derivatives for Drug Delivery and Tissue Regeneration Applications

“…[84] The interaction between cells and particles can be done via ligand-receptor interaction, antigenantibody interaction or aptamer-mediated targeting. [164] There are several strategies to improve the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of PLGA-based DDSs, give them higher circulation lifetimes and, consequently, a higher therapeutic efficiency achieved by an active targeting. Therefore, in Table 2 are represented other examples of active targeting of PLGA-based DDS considering the ligand-receptor interaction, antigen-antibody interaction and targeting through aptamers.…”

Bridging the Knowledge of Different Worlds to Understand the Big Picture of Cancer Nanomedicines

“…[21,44,45] Active targeting is dependent on the specific ligand-receptor recognition, where nanoparticles attached with targeting moieties can bind to specific targeting cancer cells, and as a result, anchored nanoparticles enter the cells through an endocytosis pathway and release the drug within the intracellular compartments of the cells. [46] For example, compared to non-targeted magnetic nanoparticles, targeted ones with anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody specific for breast cancer cells have demonstrated 10-30-fold increased concentrations in tumor tissues.…”

“…[18][19][20] Various targeting moieties, such as antibodies, peptides, sugars and proteins, have also been attached to nanomedicines in different ways to further facilitate their selective accumulation within the tumors. [21,22] Furthermore, more complex and advanced nanomedicines designs equipped with multiple functions, such as combined therapeutics, imaging, diagnostic moieties with programmed release, have also been developed to improve the therapy of cancer. [23,24] Moreover, the pathophysiological properties of the tumors enable the preferential accumulation of the nanomedicines through leaky tumor vasculatures and poor lymphatic drainage system.…”

Superparamagnetic reconstituted high-density lipoprotein nanocarriers for magnetically guided drug delivery

“…21,22 To advance the state of the art in cancer therapeutics, numerous new approaches have been developed, including active or passive targeting of the drug to the desired site via nanocarrier drug delivery platform designed as transporters of anti-cancer drugs with the potential application for enhanced chemotherapy. [23][24][25][26] Other localized treatment options include magnetically guided drug delivery utilizing iron particles that can subsequently be directed to the site of the tumor. 27,28 The current study involves a novel targeting approach utilizing encapsulation of the anti-cancer drug into reconstituted high-density lipoprotein (rHDL) nanoparticles with…”