Extracellular Vesicle-Based Drug Delivery Systems for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Systematic Review

Abstract

It is estimated that there are over 890,000 new cases of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) worldwide each year, accounting for approximately 5% of all cancer cases. Current treatment options for HNSCC often cause significant side effects and functional impairments, thus there is a challenge to discover more acceptable treatment technologies. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can be utilized for HNSCC treatment in several ways, for example, for drug delivery, immune modulation, as biomarkers for diagnostics, gene therapy, or tumor microenvironment modulation. This systematic review summarizes new knowledge regarding these options. Articles published up to 11 December 2022, were identified by searching the electronic databases PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane. Only full-text original research papers written in English were considered eligible for analysis. The quality of studies was assessed using the Office of Health Assessment and Translation (OHAT) Risk of Bias Rating Tool for Human and Animal Studies, modified for the needs of this review. Of 436 identified records, 18 were eligible and included. It is important to note that the use of EVs as a treatment for HNSCC is still in the early stages of research, so we summarized information on challenges such as EV isolation, purification, and standardization of EV-based therapies in HNSCC.

Membrane Vesicles as Drug Delivery Systems: Source, Preparation, Modification, Drug Loading, In Vivo Administration and Biodistribution, and Application in Various Diseases

“…[ 17 ], bacteria (e.g., intestinal flora and probiotics) [ 18 , 19 , 20 ], and others [ 21 , 22 ]. Among the abovementioned sources, MSCs are widely used because of their pluripotency and the ability of differentiation into a variety of cell types; cell sources, e.g., γδ T cells and macrophages, are also the best sources for EVs targeting cancer cells [ 23 ]; Recently, researchers are paying more attention to developing new natural membrane vesicle sources and engineered EVs [ 16 ].…”

“…At present, multiple methods have been applied for membrane vesicle modification, including modification of donor cells (e.g., genetic engineering modification), direct modification of isolated vesicles (e.g., chemical modification), combination strategy, and others [ 10 , 20 ]. In this Special Issue, modification of donor cells by regulating the expressions of CP05 [ 24 ], TRAIL [ 23 ], CD81 [ 16 ], CCR7 [ 12 ], etc., direct modifications of isolated EVs by using iRGD, hyaluronic acid, and folic acid [ 8 ], and combination modifications with αvβ3 integrin subunit and iRGD [ 23 ] were applied. Akbari et al reviewed the genetic and chemical functionalization of exosomes for tumor-targeted drug delivery [ 25 ].…”

“…As a promising tool for drug delivery, membrane vesicles have been recruited to load different types of drugs. In this Special Issue, curcumin was loaded in extracellular vesicles for neuroinflammation [ 13 ]; peroxidase and dopamine for Parkinson’s disease [ 26 ]; lncRNA H19 for osteoporosis [ 14 ]; miRNA-210 and miRNA-132 for cardiac repair [ 10 ]; paclitaxel for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma [ 23 ]; and even CRISPR/Cas9 for gene editing [ 27 ]. Similarly, different drugs were loaded by bacterial membrane vesicles as DDSs for disease treatment.…”