Development of Nanoscale Approaches for Ovarian Cancer Therapeutics and Diagnostics

Abstract

Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all gynecological cancers and the fifth leading cause of death due to cancer in women. This is largely due to late-stage diagnosis, poor prognosis related to advanced-stage disease, and the high recurrence rate associated with development of chemoresistance. Survival statistics have not improved significantly over the last three decades, highlighting the fact that improved therapeutic strategies and early detection require substantial improvements. Here, we review and highlight nanotechnology-based approaches that seek to address this need. The success of Doxil, a PEGylated liposomal nanoencapsulation of doxorubicin, which was approved by the FDA for use on recurrent ovarian cancer, has paved the way for the current wave of nanoparticle formulations in drug discovery and clinical trials. We discuss and summarize new nanoformulations that are currently moving into clinical trials and highlight novel nanotherapeutic strategies that have shown promising results in preclinical in vivo studies. Further, the potential for nanomaterials in diagnostic imaging techniques and the ability to leverage nanotechnology for early detection of ovarian cancer are also discussed.

Nano drug delivery systems for ovarian cancer therapy

“…Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic cancer due to its high recurrence rate [1][2][3] even though it is one of the most sensitive tumors, even at advanced stage [4]. Today, it globally ranks fifth place among the causes of death for women [2,3].…”

“…Today, it globally ranks fifth place among the causes of death for women [2,3]. The first-line treatment of ovarian-cancer is cytoreductive surgery followed by platinum-based chemotherapy [2][3][4][5][6][7][8].…”

“…Today, it globally ranks fifth place among the causes of death for women [2,3]. The first-line treatment of ovarian-cancer is cytoreductive surgery followed by platinum-based chemotherapy [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Despite improvements in the field of medicine, the reason for high mortality in ovarian cancer is late diagnosis because of nonspecific symptoms [9] (almost 75% [8,10] at stage III or later), and relapse of the disease [1][2][3] .…”

“…The first-line treatment of ovarian-cancer is cytoreductive surgery followed by platinum-based chemotherapy [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Despite improvements in the field of medicine, the reason for high mortality in ovarian cancer is late diagnosis because of nonspecific symptoms [9] (almost 75% [8,10] at stage III or later), and relapse of the disease [1][2][3] . The most significant reason for the recurrence of ovarian cancer is resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy in the majority of patients in progressive stages, although the initial success in treatment with agents such as cisplatin or carboplatin is more than 70% [3,11].…”

“…Despite improvements in the field of medicine, the reason for high mortality in ovarian cancer is late diagnosis because of nonspecific symptoms [9] (almost 75% [8,10] at stage III or later), and relapse of the disease [1][2][3] . The most significant reason for the recurrence of ovarian cancer is resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy in the majority of patients in progressive stages, although the initial success in treatment with agents such as cisplatin or carboplatin is more than 70% [3,11]. It is known that resistant cancer cells develop resistance to platinum compounds by reducing cell uptake, increasing elimination, inactivation/detoxification of drugs, and accelerating DNA repair [12][13][14].…”