Chemically Modified Natural Polymer-Based Theranostic Nanomedicines: Are They the Golden Gate toward a de Novo Clinical Approach against Cancer?

Abstract

It is an unquestionable fact that cancer, also called malignancy, has or will soon become the major global health care problem with an increasing incidence worldwide. Conventional treatment approaches (e.g., radiation or chemotherapy) treat both cancerous and surrounding normal tissues simultaneously, which leads to a poor therapeutic effect on tumors and severe toxic side effects on healthy tissues. Considering these thematic issues, the design and development of more efficient treatment approaches is one of the most important demands of health care in the near future. In this context, the emergence of nanotechnology opens new opportunities for addressing the issues of conventional drug delivery systems (DDSs) for cancer therapy. Theranostic nanomedicines are indebted to the advent of nanotechnology and were introduced by Funkhouser in 2002. These nanomedicines are the newest DDSs that combine diagnostic and therapeutic properties into a single platform. Theranostic nanomedicines are generally composed of targeting agents, diagnostic tracers, effective drug(s), and biomaterial(s) as the matrix to the formulation. Among these, biomaterials have a pivotal role in theranostic nanomedicines due to their direct influence on the system effectiveness. In this context, natural polymers can be considered as potential candidates, mainly due to their inherent physicochemical as well as biological advantages. However, natural polymers have some drawbacks, which can be addressed through the chemical modification approach. In this review, we will highlight the recent progress in the development of theranostic nanomedicines based on chemically modified natural polymers as well as research prospects for the future.

Cellulose Nanocrystals/Chitosan-Based Nanosystems: Synthesis, Characterization, and Cellular Uptake on Breast Cancer Cells

“…In fact, the incorporation of, for instance, gold nanoparticles (with potential for photothermal cancer therapy [67]) into the CNCs/FA-CS-FITC nanosystems could be an option to engineer a nanocarrier with combined diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities, viz. a theranostic nanosystem [68].…”

Thermal Property Control by Copolymerization of Trimethylene Carbonate and Its Derivative Bearing Triphenylmethyl Group

“…It is important to develop new sustainable materials to achieve the targets set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There are many reports on the blending [1,2] and chemical modification [3][4][5] of natural polymers to improve their properties but another approach to creating new materials is the development of new synthetic degradable polymers. It is well known that it is possible for polyesters, such as poly(εcaprolactone) (PCL), polylactides (PLA), and poly(butylene succinate)s, to be degraded by hydrolysis.…”

A bio‐inspired gelatin‐based pH‐ and thermal‐sensitive magnetic hydrogel for in vitro chemo/hyperthermia treatment of breast cancer cells

“…[15][16][17][18] In the last few years, numerous DDSs have been designed and engineered to respond to various internal or external stimuli. [19][20][21] Amongst, pH-and thermal-responsive DDSs have received more attention owing to their simplicities as well as abnormal microenvironment condition of tumoral tissues (lower pH and higher temperature values) in comparison with healthy tissues that resulted to targeted release of encapsulated cargo. [22][23][24][25] On the other hand, the integration of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) into hydrogelbased DDSs lead to easy isolation in target area, remote control ability under a magnetic field and application in diagnosis through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).…”

“…In the last few years, numerous DDSs have been designed and engineered to respond to various internal or external stimuli 19–21 . Amongst, pH‐ and thermal‐responsive DDSs have received more attention owing to their simplicities as well as abnormal microenvironment condition of tumoral tissues (lower pH and higher temperature values) in comparison with healthy tissues that resulted to targeted release of encapsulated cargo 22–25 .…”