Roma-Rodrigues C, Rivas-García L, Baptista PV, Fernandes AR. Gene Therapy in Cancer Treatment: Why Go Nano?
Pharmaceutics 2020;
12:E233. [PMID:
32151052 PMCID:
PMC7150812 DOI:
10.3390/pharmaceutics12030233]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 03/03/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The proposal of gene therapy to tackle cancer development has been instrumental for the development of novel approaches and strategies to fight this disease, but the efficacy of the proposed strategies has still fallen short of delivering the full potential of gene therapy in the clinic. Despite the plethora of gene modulation approaches, e.g., gene silencing, antisense therapy, RNA interference, gene and genome editing, finding a way to efficiently deliver these effectors to the desired cell and tissue has been a challenge. Nanomedicine has put forward several innovative platforms to overcome this obstacle. Most of these platforms rely on the application of nanoscale structures, with particular focus on nanoparticles. Herein, we review the current trends on the use of nanoparticles designed for cancer gene therapy, including inorganic, organic, or biological (e.g., exosomes) variants, in clinical development and their progress towards clinical applications.
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