Nanotherapeutic approaches for brain cancer management
Cet article passe en revue les perspectives offertes par les nanotechnologies pour développer des traitements d'un cancer du cerveau
Around the world, cancer remains one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality. Worldwide, approximately 238,000 new cases of brain and other central nervous system tumors are diagnosed every year. Nanotherapeutic approaches hold tremendous potential for diagnosis and treatment of brain cancer, including the ability to target complex molecular cargoes to the tumor sites and the capacity of crossing the blood-brain-barrier and accessing to the brain after systemic administration. A new generation of “smart” nanoparticles has been designed as novel targeted delivery devices for new therapies including gene therapy, anti-angiogenic and thermotherapy. This review highlights the latest research, opportunities and challenges for developing novel nanotherapeutics for treating brain cancers. This review will take the reader through the most recent and promising advances on nanomedicine for brain cancer treatment. Drug delivery nanocarriers can be designed for direct intra-cerebral administration through a convection-enhanced delivery system (A). Besides, they can be functionalized (active targeting) for over-passing the blood-brain-barrier when administered systemically (B). Both strategies seek the specific tumor cell uptake of the carriers and the release of their loaded therapeutic drugs to obtain a successful clinical response (C). Figures adapted with permission from Oxford University Press (A, reference 140) and Macmillan Publisher Ltd (B, reference 108; C, reference 112).
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