Cancer nanotherapeutics are rapidly progressing and are being implemented to solve several limitations of conventional drug delivery systems such as nonspecific biodistribution and targeting, lack of water solubility, poor oral bioavailability, and low therapeutic indices. To improve the biodistribution of cancer drugs, nanoparticles have been designed for optimal size and surface characteristics to increase their circulation time in the bloodstream. They are also able to carry their loaded active drugs to cancer cells by selectively using the unique pathophysiology of tumors, such as their enhanced permeability and retention effect and the tumor microenvironment. In addition to this passive targeting mechanism, active targeting strategies using ligands or antibodies directed against selected tumor targets amplify the specificity of these therapeutic nanoparticles. Drug resistance, another obstacle that impedes the efficacy of both molecularly targeted and conventional chemotherapeutic agents, might also be overcome, or at least reduced, using nanoparticles. Nanoparticles have the ability to accumulate in cells without being recognized by P-glycoprotein, one of the main mediators of multidrug resistance, resulting in the increased intracellular concentration of drugs. Multifunctional and multiplex nanoparticles are now being actively investigated and are on the horizon as the next generation of nanoparticles, facilitating personalized and tailored cancer treatment.

https://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/clincanres/14/5/1310.full.pdf

Therapeutic Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery in Cancer

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the closely related reactive nitrogen species (RNS) are often generated in applications of atmospheric pressure plasmas intended for biomedical purposes. These species are also central players in what is sometimes referred to as ‘redox’ or oxidation‐reduction biology. Oxidation‐reduction biochemistry is fundamental to all of aerobic biology. ROS and RNS are perhaps best known as disease-associated agents, implicated in diabetes, cancer, heart and lung disease, autoimmune disease and a host of other maladies including ageing and various infectious diseases. These species are also known to play active roles in the immune systems of both animals and plants and are key signalling molecules, among many other important roles. Indeed, the latest research has shown that ROS/RNS play a much more complex and nuanced role in health and ageing than previously thought. Some of the most potentially profound therapeutic roles played by ROS and RNS in various medical interventions have emerged only in the last several years. Recent research suggests that ROS/RNS are significant and perhaps even central actors in the actions of antimicrobial and anti-parasite drugs, cancer therapies, wound healing therapies and therapies involving the cardiovascular system. Understanding the ways ROS/RNS act in established therapies may help guide future efforts in exploiting novel plasma medical therapies. The importance of ROS and RNS to plant biology has been relatively little appreciated in the plasma biomedicine community, but these species are just as important in plants. It appears that there are opportunities for useful applications of plasmas in this area as well. (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0022-3727/45/26/263001/pdf

The emerging role of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in redox biology and some implications for plasma applications to medicine and biology

Up to 50% of cancer patients suffer from a progressive atrophy of adipose tissue and skeletal muscle, called cachexia, resulting in weight loss, a reduced quality of life, and a shortened survival ...

/pdf/mechanisms-of-cancer-cachexia-26gc7sv3fx.pdf

Mechanisms of Cancer Cachexia

Epidemiological evidence suggests that flavonoids may play an important role in the decreased risk of chronic diseases associated with a diet rich in plant-derived foods. Flavonoids are also common constituents of plants used in traditional medicine to treat a wide range of diseases. The purpose of this article is to summarize the distribution and biological activities of one of the most common flavonoids: luteolin. This flavonoid and its glycosides are widely distributed in the plant kingdom; they are present in many plant families and have been identified in Bryophyta, Pteridophyta, Pinophyta and Magnoliophyta. Dietary sources of luteolin include, for instance, carrots, peppers, celery, olive oil, peppermint, thyme, rosemary and oregano. Preclinical studies have shown that this flavone possesses a variety of pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and anticancer activities. The ability of luteolin to inhibit angiogenesis, to induce apoptosis, to prevent carcinogenesis in animal models, to reduce tumor growth in vivo and to sensitize tumor cells to the cytotoxic effects of some anticancer drugs suggests that this flavonoid has cancer chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic potential. Modulation of ROS levels, inhibition of topoisomerases I and II, reduction of NF-kappaB and AP-1 activity, stabilization of p53, and inhibition of PI3K, STAT3, IGF1R and HER2 are possible mechanisms involved in the biological activities of luteolin.

Distribution and biological activities of the flavonoid luteolin.

Most cancer cells exhibit increased glycolysis and use this metabolic pathway for generation of ATP as a main source of their energy supply. This phenomenon is known as the Warburg effect and is considered as one of the most fundamental metabolic alterations during malignant transformation. In recent years, there are significant progresses in our understanding of the underlying mechanisms and the potential therapeutic implications. Biochemical and molecular studies suggest several possible mechanisms by which this metabolic alteration may evolve during cancer development. These mechanisms include mitochondrial defects and malfunction, adaptation to hypoxic tumor microenvironment, oncogenic signaling, and abnormal expression of metabolic enzymes. Importantly, the increased dependence of cancer cells on glycolytic pathway for ATP generation provides a biochemical basis for the design of therapeutic strategies to preferentially kill cancer cells by pharmacological inhibition of glycolysis. Several small molecules have emerged that exhibit promising anticancer activity in vitro and in vivo, as single agent or in combination with other therapeutic modalities. The glycolytic inhibitors are particularly effective against cancer cells with mitochondrial defects or under hypoxic conditions, which are frequently associated with cellular resistance to conventional anticancer drugs and radiation therapy. Because increased aerobic glycolysis is commonly seen in a wide spectrum of human cancers and hypoxia is present in most tumor microenvironment, development of novel glycolytic inhibitors as a new class of anticancer agents is likely to have broad therapeutic applications.

/pdf/glycolysis-inhibition-for-anticancer-treatment-40rjcq29jf.pdf

D. S. Martin

Papers

Glycolysis inhibition for anticancer treatment