Drug Delivery Based on Stimuli-Responsive Injectable Hydrogels for Breast Cancer Therapy: A Review

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common and biggest health threat for women. There is an urgent need to develop novel breast cancer therapies to overcome the shortcomings of conventional surgery and chemotherapy, which include poor drug efficiency, damage to normal tissues, and increased side effects. Drug delivery systems based on injectable hydrogels have recently gained remarkable attention, as they offer encouraging solutions for localized, targeted, and controlled drug release to the tumor site. Such systems have great potential for improving drug efficiency and reducing the side effects caused by long-term exposure to chemotherapy. The present review aims to provide a critical analysis of the latest developments in the application of drug delivery systems using stimuli-responsive injectable hydrogels for breast cancer treatment. The focus is on discussing how such hydrogel systems enhance treatment efficacy and incorporate multiple breast cancer therapies into one system, in response to multiple stimuli, including temperature, pH, photo-, magnetic field, and glutathione. The present work also features a brief outline of the recent progress in the use of tough hydrogels. As the breast undergoes significant physical stress and movement during sporting and daily activities, it is important for drug delivery hydrogels to have sufficient mechanical toughness to maintain structural integrity for a desired period of time.

Bioinformatics Method Was Used to Analyze the Highly Expressed Gene FAM83A of Breast Cancer in Young Women

“…To illustrate the differential indication of the effect of the gene on the overall survival of breast cancer patients, in the Kaplan-Meier plotter numerical library ( http://www.kmplot.com/ ), patient samples are divided into high expressive groups and low expressions according to the median indication of gene group [ 23 ]. Using tacit parameters, the median survival period of each gene in the high and low expression groups was calculated; if log rank P < 0.05, the gene was considered to indicate a difference with the overall survival period [ 24 ].…”

Nanomedicine and versatile therapies for cancer treatment

“…Due to ease of fabrication, biocompatibility, tunable composition, and superior physical properties have made these materials promising for tremendous biomedical applications. The basic objective of hydrogel-based technology is the development of injectable hydrogels, 61,62 where the gel precursor, usually aqueous, is blended with other biopolymers or biologically active agents and then administered via syringe at the desired area of interest. The prime advantage of injectable hydrogels rests on their highly flexible properties (acquiring the desired shape), when applicable in vivo results in fast recovery with smaller scar size and minimum pain caused to the patients, retaining higher capacity and enhanced drug or gene encapsulation for their delivery.…”

Polymeric Nanostructures Containing Proteins and Peptides for Pharmaceutical Applications

“…They are mainly composed of hydrophilic and biocompatible polymers, either natural or synthetic, and they display biocompatibility that further provides them the ability to swell in the aqueous media in which they are dispersed. They are widely applied in the pharmaceutical field, in biosensors [90,91], as biomaterials in tissue engineering [92], in cancer therapy [93], or as drug delivery carriers [94]. Specifically, they enable hydrophilic active therapeutic biomolecules to be effectively delivered.…”