Lipophilic photosensitizer administration via the prostate arteries for photodynamic therapy of the canine prostate

Nanobody-targeted photodynamic therapy for the treatment of feline oral carcinoma: a step towards translation to the veterinary clinic

Nanobody-targeted photodynamic therapy (NB-PDT) has been developed as a potent and tumor-selective treatment, using nanobodies (NBs) to deliver a photosensitizer (PS) specifically to cancer cells. Upon local light application, reactive oxygen species are formed and consequent cell death occurs. NB-PDT has preclinically shown evident success and we next aim to treat cats with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), which has very limited therapeutic options and is regarded as a natural model of human head and neck SCC. Immunohistochemistry of feline OSCC tissue confirmed that the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a relevant target with expression in cancer cells and not in the surrounding stroma. Three feline OSCC cell lines were employed together with a well-characterized human cancer cell line (HeLa), all with similar EGFR expression, and a low EGFR-expressing human cell line (MCF7), mirroring the EGFR expression level in the surrounding mucosal stroma. NB_A was identified as a NB binding human and feline EGFR with comparable high affinity. This NB was developed into NiBh, a NB-PS conjugate with high PS payload able to effectively kill feline OSCC and HeLa cell lines, after illumination. Importantly, the specificity of NB-PDT was confirmed in co-cultures where only the feline OSCC cells were killed while surrounding MCF7 cells were unaffected. Altogether, NiBh can be used for NB-PDT to treat feline OSCC and further advance NB-PDT towards the human clinic.

Current prospects and challenges of nanomedicine delivery in prostate cancer therapy

Management of prostate cancer is currently being pursued by systemic delivery of anticancer drugs, but it has drawbacks like nonspecific distribution, decreased bioavailability, coupled with adverse side effects. These problems have been resolved using nanomedicine-based anticancer drug delivery to improve the therapeutic index with higher drug dose and reduced nonspecific distribution. Targeting prostate tumor by delivering nanomedicine through locoregional route is more effective, than the systemic delivery, which can decrease systemic exposure of the therapeutics significantly. Therefore, in this article, we have reviewed the current prospects and challenges of prostate cancer therapy using nanomedicine, by providing a comprehensive description of advantages and limitations of the systemic route and locoregional route. Eventually, we have emphasized on the need for localized prostate cancer therapy developments using nanomedicines.