Combinational antitumor strategies of exosomes as drug carriers: Mini review

Abstract

Cancer therapies have made tremendous progress in the last decade, but monotherapy still has apparent limitations and lacks therapeutic efficacy. Thus, the simultaneous administration of multiple drugs has been widely explored and has shown better outcomes. Exosomes, deriving from almost all living cells, are natural nanocarriers designed to deliver drugs to tumor sites. Therefore, combinational antitumor therapies based on exosomes, such as engineered exosomes and different combinations of chemotherapeutic agents, therapeutic nucleic acids, photosensitizers, immunotherapy and phytochemicals, have considerable prospects and potential for clinical translation. Here, we summarize current strategies of cancer combination therapy in exosomes and propose opportunities and challenges in the future.

Recent Trends in the Use of Small Extracellular Vesicles as Optimal Drug Delivery Vehicles in Oncology

“…11−13 Moreover, another advantage of using sEVs in cancer drug delivery is their ability to hold multiple therapeutic molecules, both hydrophobic and hydrophilic, within their membranes. 14,15 This feature allowed them to increase the magnitude of the chemotherapeutic response and inhibit drug resistance through combinational drug delivery targeting multiple pathways involved in cancer progression. Hence, researchers are looking at EVs as potential drug delivery systems to address the targetability issues in today's fight against cancer, and sEV-based drug delivery is one of the active research areas in oncology.…”

“…This can decrease immune-related side effects and extend the lifespan of the chemotherapeutic drug in the body. Afterward, sEVs can protect the therapeutic cargo from systemic degradation and clearance along with compatibility of crossing various biological barriers, especially the highly selective blood–brain barrier (BBB), while researchers are trying to enhance the transport mechanism of drugs into target specific cells within the tumor microenvironment. , In this context, sEVs were also found to be feasible for engineering with target specific ligands, which enable them to recognize and deliver the drug payload into the desired tissue or cell of interest. − Moreover, another advantage of using sEVs in cancer drug delivery is their ability to hold multiple therapeutic molecules, both hydrophobic and hydrophilic, within their membranes. , This feature allowed them to increase the magnitude of the chemotherapeutic response and inhibit drug resistance through combinational drug delivery targeting multiple pathways involved in cancer progression.…”