Title:Nanotechnology Based Approach for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Targeting
Volume: 22
Issue: 7
Author(s): Abdulsalam Alhalmi, Sarwar Beg*, Kanchan Kohli*, Md. Waris and Tanuja Singh
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, 110062,India
- Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, 110062,India
Keywords:
Hepatocellular carcinoma, chemotherapy, nanocarriers, ligands, tumor targeting, quantum dots.
Abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the primary liver cancer that has shown a high incidence
and mortality rate worldwide among several types of cancers. A large variety of chemotherapeutic
agents employed for the treatment have a limited success rate owing to their limited site-specific
drug targeting ability. Thus, there is a demand to develop novel approaches for the treatment
of HCC. With advancements in nanotechnology-based drug delivery approaches, the challenges of
conventional chemotherapy have been continuously decreasing. Nanomedicines constituted of lipidic
and polymeric composites provide a better platform for delivering and opening new pathways
for HCC treatment. A score of nanocarriers such as surface-engineered liposomes, nanoparticles,
nanotubes, micelles, quantum dots, etc., has been investigated in the treatment of HCC. These nanocarriers
are considered to be highly effective clinically for delivering chemotherapeutic drugs with
high site-specificity ability and therapeutic efficiency. The present review highlights the current focus
on the application of nanocarrier systems using various ligand-based receptor-specific targeting
strategies for the treatment and management of HCC. Moreover, the article has also included information
on the current clinically approved drug therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma treatment and
updates of regulatory requirements for approval of such nanomedicines.
