Flavonoids-Based Delivery Systems towards Cancer Therapies

Abstract

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Cervical cancer, for instance, is considered a major scourge in low-income countries. Its development is mostly associated with the human papillomavirus persistent infection and despite the availability of preventive vaccines, they are only widely administered in more developed countries, thus leaving a large percentage of unvaccinated women highly susceptible to this type of cancer. Current treatments are based on invasive techniques, being far from effective. Therefore, the search for novel, advanced and personalized therapeutic approaches is imperative. Flavonoids belong to a group of natural polyphenolic compounds, well recognized for their great anticancer capacity, thus promising to be incorporated in cancer therapy protocols. However, their use is limited due to their low solubility, stability and bioavailability. To surpass these limitations, the encapsulation of flavonoids into delivery systems emerged as a valuable strategy to improve their stability and bioavailability. In this context, the aim of this review is to present the most reliable flavonoids-based delivery systems developed for anticancer therapies and the progress accomplished, with a special focus on cervical cancer therapy. The gathered information revealed the high therapeutic potential of flavonoids and highlights the relevance of delivery systems application, allowing a better understanding for future studies on effective cancer therapy.

Polymeric Systems for the Controlled Release of Flavonoids

“…Flavonoid bioavailability depends on many properties, such as their molecular weight, chemical structure, and degree of glycosylation, as well as the type of sugar moieties [ 31 , 32 ]. The solubility of flavonoids in water is generally very low; as a consequence, their absorption by oral administration is difficult, thus leading to low bioavailability and low therapeutic effect [ 33 , 34 , 35 ]. Furthermore, flavonoids have low stability, are easily degraded in acidic medium, and have a high metabolic rate [ 35 , 36 ].…”

“…The solubility of flavonoids in water is generally very low; as a consequence, their absorption by oral administration is difficult, thus leading to low bioavailability and low therapeutic effect [ 33 , 34 , 35 ]. Furthermore, flavonoids have low stability, are easily degraded in acidic medium, and have a high metabolic rate [ 35 , 36 ]. Many strategies have been explored to increase flavonoid bioavailability and metabolic stability, such as the formation of microemulsions or flavonoid methylation [ 31 ], as well as their encapsulation in a drug delivery system, as one of the most promising approaches.…”

Selected Flavonoids to Target Melanoma: A Perspective in Nanoengineering Delivery Systems

“…Flavonoids as well as many natural molecules are very unstable in aqueous environment or present very low solubility, thus nanotechnology has arisen as a novel approach to encapsulate these molecules, protect them from degradations, and enhance their solubility and bioavailability, thus enhancing their activity as anticancer agents [ 7 , 62 , 63 ].…”

Cytotoxic Potential of Alternaria tenuissima AUMC14342 Mycoendophyte Extract: A Study Combined with LC-MS/MS Metabolic Profiling and Molecular Docking Simulation

“…Human health is at constant risk due to the occurrence of different types of non-communicable chronic diseases [ 1 ]. Among the major non-communicable chronic diseases, cancer is considered the second principal cause of mortality in the world [ 2 ]. In 2020, an estimated 19.3 million cancer cases developed and around 10.0 million cancer deaths occurred worldwide [ 3 ].…”