Colon targeted drug delivery systems have gained a great deal of attention as potential carriers for the local treatment of colonic diseases with reduced systemic side effects and also for the enhanced oral delivery of various therapeutics vulnerable to acidic and enzymatic degradation in the upper gastrointestinal tract. In recent years, the global pharmaceutical market for biologics has grown, and increasing demand for a more patient-friendly drug administration system highlights the importance of colonic drug delivery as a noninvasive delivery approach for macromolecules. Colon-targeted drug delivery systems for macromolecules can provide therapeutic benefits including better patient compliance (because they are pain-free and can be self-administered) and lower costs. Therefore, to achieve more efficient colonic drug delivery for local or systemic drug effects, various strategies have been explored including pH-dependent systems, enzyme-triggered systems, receptor-mediated systems, and magnetically-driven systems. In this review, recent advancements in various approaches for designing colon targeted drug delivery systems and their pharmaceutical applications are covered with a particular emphasis on formulation technologies.

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/12/1/68/pdf

Strategic Approaches for Colon Targeted Drug Delivery: An Overview of Recent Advancements.

Natural polysaccharides for controlled delivery of oral therapeutics: a recent update.

Pectin polymers for colon-targeted antitumor drug delivery.

Advances of nanoparticles as drug delivery systems for disease diagnosis and treatment

Hydrogels are a series of soft and wet materials with three dimensions of crosslinked networks. Hydrogels have attracted great attention due to their diverse functional properties, and their wide r...

Hydrogel: Diversity of Structures and Applications in Food Science

Review of polysaccharide particle-based functional drug delivery

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the leading causes of death from cancer in women; second only to lung cancer. Tamoxifen (TAM) is a hydrophobic anticancer agent and a selective estrogen modulator (SERM), approved by the FDA for hormone therapy of BC. Despite having striking efficacy in BC therapy, concerns regarding the dose-dependent carcinogenicity of TAM still persist, restricting its therapeutic applications. Nanotechnology has emerged as one of the most important strategies to solve the issue of TAM toxicity, owing to the ability of nano-enabled-formulations to deliver smaller concentrations of TAM to cancer cells, over a longer period of time. Various TAM-containing-nanosystems have been successfully fabricated to selectively deliver TAM to specific molecular targets found on tumour membranes, reducing unwanted toxic effects. This review begins with an outline of breast cancer, the current treatment options and a history of how TAM has been used as a combatant of BC. A detailed discussion of various nanoformulation strategies used to deliver lower doses of TAM selectively to breast tumours will then follow. Finally, a commentary on future perspectives of TAM being employed as a targeting vector, to guide the delivery of other therapeutic and diagnostic agents selectively to breast tumours will be presented.

https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/25/5/1182/pdf

Novel Tamoxifen Nanoformulations for Improving Breast Cancer Treatment: Old Wine in New Bottles.

Chitosan-glucuronic acid conjugate coated mesoporous silica nanoparticles: A smart pH-responsive and receptor-targeted system for colorectal cancer therapy

Simple Summary Pancreatic cancer is a serious ongoing global health burden, with an overall 5-year survival rate of less than 5%. One major hurdle in the treatment of this disease is the predominantly elderly patient population, leading to their ineligibility for curative surgery and a low rate of successful outcomes. Systemic administration introduces chemo-agents throughout the body via the blood, attacking not only tumours but also healthy organs. When localised interventions are employed, chemo-agents are retained specifically at tumour site, minimizing unwanted toxicity. As a result, there is a growing interest in finding novel localised interventions as alternatives to systemic therapy. Here, we present a detailed review of current locoregional therapies used in pancreatic cancer therapy. This work aims to present a thorough guide for researchers and clinicians intended to employ established and novel localised interventions in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, we present our insights and opinions on the potential ideals to improve these tools. Abstract Pancreatic cancer (PC) remains the seventh leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide and the third in the United States, making it one of the most lethal solid malignancies. Unfortunately, the symptoms of this disease are not very apparent despite an increasing incidence rate. Therefore, at the time of diagnosis, 45% of patients have already developed metastatic tumours. Due to the aggressive nature of the pancreatic tumours, local interventions are required in addition to first-line treatments. Locoregional interventions affect a specific area of the pancreas to minimize local tumour recurrence and reduce the side effects on surrounding healthy tissues. However, compared to the number of new studies on systemic therapy, very little research has been conducted on localised interventions for PC. To address this unbalanced focus and to shed light on the tremendous potentials of locoregional therapies, this work will provide a detailed discussion of various localised treatment strategies. Most importantly, to the best of our knowledge, the aspect of localised drug delivery systems used in PC was unprecedentedly discussed in this work. This review is meant for researchers and clinicians considering utilizing local therapy for the effective treatment of PC, providing a thorough guide on recent advancements in research and clinical trials toward locoregional interventions, together with the authors’ insight into their potential improvements.

/pdf/pancreatic-cancer-challenges-and-opportunities-in-2k5zqavm.pdf

Pancreatic Cancer: Challenges and Opportunities in Locoregional Therapies

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, with approximately one in six deaths attributed to this disease. Due to its complex requirements in treatment and management, cancer remains a global social challenge, driving extensive scientific efforts into the development of new technological advances and materials, to provide novel cancer therapies with enhanced efficacy and safety. Monotherapy or the administration of a sole anticancer drug is still a clinical standard in cancer therapy; however, these treatment options are often deemed less effective than combinational therapy. Over the past few years, research efforts into the use of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) as delivery vehicles for drug combinations have increased significantly. Owing to their distinctly ordered porous structures, MSNs provide high loading capacities for various types of guest materials. In this chapter, we will touch upon the origin and synthesis of these versatile nanoparticles, as well as the many parameters by which MSNs can be tuned to effectively deliver drug combinations to tumors. We will also review various studies in which MSNs have been employed as nanocarriers for combinational therapies in cancer treatment. Finally, the obstacles associated with the use of MSNs and the future outlook of these multifaceted nanovehicles will be discussed.

Candace Minhthu Day

Papers

Review of polysaccharide particle-based functional drug delivery

Novel Tamoxifen Nanoformulations for Improving Breast Cancer Treatment: Old Wine in New Bottles.

Chitosan-glucuronic acid conjugate coated mesoporous silica nanoparticles: A smart pH-responsive and receptor-targeted system for colorectal cancer therapy

Pancreatic Cancer: Challenges and Opportunities in Locoregional Therapies

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles for drug combination delivery in cancer therapy: background, current insights, and future perspectives