Title:Nanoparticles in Combating Cancer: Opportunities and Limitations: A Brief Review
Volume: 28
Issue: 2
Author(s): Elzbieta Pedziwiatr-Werbicka*, Katarzyna Horodecka, Dzmitry Shcharbin*Maria Bryszewska
Affiliation:
- University of Lodz, Faculty of Biology and Experimental Protection, Department of General Biophysics, Lodz,Poland
- Institute of Biophysics and Cell Engineering of NASB, Minsk,Belarus
Keywords:
Nanoparticles, dendrimers, liposomes, micelles, carbon nanotubes, quantum dots, cancer,
nanomedicine.
Abstract: Nanomedicine is a good alternative to traditional methods of cancer treatment but does not
solve all the limitations of oncology. Nanoparticles used in anticancer therapy can work as carriers of
drugs, nucleic acids, imaging agents or they can sensitize cells to radiation. The present review focuses
on the application of nanoparticles to treating cancer, as well as on its problems and limitations.
Using nanoparticles as drug carriers, significant improvement in the efficiency of transport of compounds
and their targeting directly to the tumour has been achieved; it also reduces the side effects of
chemotherapeutic drugs on the body. However, nanoparticles do not significantly improve the effectiveness
of the chemotherapeutic agent itself. Most nanodrugs can reduce the toxicity of chemotherapy,
but do not significantly affect the effectiveness of treatment. Nanodrugs should be developed
that can be effective as an anti-metastatic treatment, e.g. by enhancing the ability of nanoparticles to
transport chemotherapeutic loads to sentinel lymph nodes using the immune system and developing
chemotherapy in specific metastatic areas. Gene therapy, however, is the most modern method of
treating cancer, the cause of cancer being tackled by altering genetic material. Other applications of
nanoparticles for radiotherapy and diagnostics are discussed.
