Can nanotechnology help us fundamentally eradicate cancer in the future? Is it safe for humans?

Cancer therapies are currently limited to surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. All three methods risk damage to normal tissues or incomplete eradication of the cancer. Nanotechnology offers the means to target chemotherapies directly and selectively to cancerous cells and neoplasms, guide in surgical resection of tumors, and enhance the therapeutic efficacy of radiation-based and other current treatment modalities. All of this can add up to a decreased risk to the patient and an increased probability of survival.

Research on nanotechnology cancer therapy extends beyond drug delivery into the creation of new therapeutics available only through use of nanomaterial properties. Although small compared to cells, nanoparticles are large enough to encapsulate many small molecule compounds, which can be of multiple types. At the same time, the relatively large surface area of nanoparticle can be functionalized with ligands, including small molecules, DNA or RNA strands, peptides, aptamers or antibodies. These ligands can be used for therapeutic effect or to direct nanoparticle fate in vivo. These properties enable combination drug delivery, multi-modality treatment and combined therapeutic and diagnostic, known as “theranostic,” action. The physical properties of nanoparticles, such as energy absorption and re-radiation, can also be used to disrupt diseased tissue, as in laser ablation and hyperthermia applications.

Integrated development of innovative nanoparticle packages and active pharmaceutical ingredients will also enable exploration of a wider repertoire of active ingredients, no longer confined to those with acceptable pharmacokinetic or biocompatibility behavior. In addition, immunogenic cargo and surface coatings are being investigated as both adjuvants to nanoparticle-mediated and traditional radio- and chemotherapy as well as stand-alone therapies. Innovative strategies include the design of nanoparticles as artificial antigen presenting cells and in vivo depots of immunostimulatory factors that exploit nanostructured architecture for sustained anti-tumor activity.

The traditional use of nanotechnology in cancer therapeutics has been to improve the pharmacokinetics and reduce the systemic toxicities of chemotherapies through the selective targeting and delivery of these anticancer drugs to tumor tissues. The advantage of nanosized carriers is that they can increase the delivered drug’s overall therapeutic index through nanoformulations in with chemotherapeutics are either encapsulated or conjugated to the surfaces of nanoparticles. This capability is largely due to their tunable size and surface properties. Size is a major factor in the delivery of nanotechnology-based therapeutics to tumor tissues. Selective delivery of nanotherapeutic platforms depends primarily on the passive targeting of tumors through the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. This phenomenon relies on defects specific to tumor microenvironment such as defects in lymphatic drainage, along with increased tumor vasculature permeability, to allow nanoparticles (<200 nm) to accumulate in the tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, the timing or site of drug release can be controlled by triggered events, such as ultrasound, pH, heat, or by material composition.

Reference:

https://www.cancer.gov/nano/cancer-nanotechnology/treatment