Effect of mesoporous silica nanoparticles co‑loading with 17‑AAG and Torin2 on anaplastic thyroid carcinoma by targeting VEGFR2

Current Application of Nanoparticle Drug Delivery Systems to the Treatment of Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinomas

Anaplastic thyroid carcinomas (ATCs) are a rare subtype of thyroid cancers with a low incidence but extremely high invasiveness and fatality. The treatment of ATCs is very challenging, and currently, a comprehensive individualized therapeutic strategy involving surgery, radiotherapy (RT), chemotherapy, BRAF/MEK inhibitors (BRAFi/MEKi) and immunotherapy is preferred. For ATC patients in stage IVA/IVB, a surgery-based comprehensive strategy may provide survival benefits. Unfortunately, ATC patients in IVC stage barely get benefits from the current treatment. Recently, nanoparticle delivery of siRNAs, targeted drugs, cytotoxic drugs, photosensitizers and other agents is considered as a promising anti-cancer treatment. Nanoparticle drug delivery systems have been mainly explored in the treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). With the rapid development of drug delivery techniques and nanomaterials, using hybrid nanoparticles as the drug carrier to deliver siRNAs, targeted drugs, immune drugs, chemotherapy drugs and phototherapy drugs to ATC patients have become a hot research field. This review aims to describe latest findings of nanoparticle drug delivery systems in the treatment of ATCs, thus providing references for the further analyses.

Engineering a HEK-293T exosome-based delivery platform for efficient tumor-targeting chemotherapy/internal irradiation combination therapy

Exosomes are nanoscale monolayer membrane vesicles that are actively endogenously secreted by mammalian cells. Currently, multifunctional exosomes with tumor-targeted imaging and therapeutic potential have aroused widespread interest in cancer research. Herein, we developed a multifunctional HEK-293T exosome-based targeted delivery platform by engineering HEK-293T cells to express a well-characterized exosomal membrane protein (Lamp2b) fused to the αv integrin-specific iRGD peptide and tyrosine fragments. This platform was loaded with doxorubicin (Dox) and labeled with radioiodine-131 (131I) using the chloramine-T method. iRGD exosomes showed highly efficient targeting and Dox delivery to integrin αvβ3-positive anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) cells as demonstrated by confocal imaging and flow cytometry in vitro and an excellent tumor-targeting capacity confirmed by single-photon emission computed tomography-computed tomography after labeling with 131I in vivo. In addition, intravenous injection of this vehicle delivered Dox and 131I specifically to tumor tissues, leading to significant tumor growth inhibition in an 8505C xenograft mouse model, while showing biosafety and no side effects. These as-developed multifunctional exosomes (denoted as Dox@iRGD-Exos-131I) provide novel insight into the current treatment of ATC and hold great potential for improving therapeutic efficacy against a wide range of integrin αvβ3-overexpressing tumors.

Nanoparticles: Promising Auxiliary Agents for Diagnosis and Therapy of Thyroid Cancers

Simple Summary

Thyroid cancer (TC) is rare relative to cancers of many other organs (breast, prostate, lung, and colon). The majority of TCs are differentiated tumors that are relatively easy to treat and have a good prognosis. However, for anaplastic TC, a rapidly growing and aggressive tumor, treatment is suboptimal because the effective drugs cause severe adverse effects. Drug delivery by nanocarriers can improve treatment by reducing side effects. This can either be mediated through better retention in the tumor tissue due to size (passive targeting) or through the attachment of specific molecules that zero in on the cancer cells (active targeting). Nanoparticles are already used for diagnosis and imaging of TC. For unresectable anaplastic TC, nanoparticle-based treatments, less suitable for deeply located cancers, could be useful, based on low-intensity focused ultrasound and near-infrared irradiation. All potential applications of nanoparticles in TC are still in the preclinical phase.

Abstract

Cancers of the endocrine system are rare. The majority are not highly malignant tumors. Thyroid cancer (TC) is the most common endocrine cancer, with differentiated papillary and follicular tumors occurring more frequently than the more aggressive poorly differentiated and anaplastic TC. Nanoparticles (NP) (mainly mesoporous silica, gold, carbon, or liposomes) have been developed to improve the detection of biomarkers and routine laboratory parameters (e.g., thyroid stimulating hormone, thyroglobulin, and calcitonin), tumor imaging, and drug delivery in TC. The majority of drug-loaded nanocarriers to be used for treatment was developed for anaplastic tumors because current treatments are suboptimal. Further, doxorubicin, sorafenib, and gemcitabine treatment can be improved by nanotherapy due to decreased adverse effects. Selective delivery of retinoic acid to TC cells might improve the re-differentiation of de-differentiated TC. The use of carbon NPs for the prevention of parathyroid damage during TC surgery does not show a clear benefit. Certain technologies less suitable for the treatment of deeply located cancers may have some potential for unresectable anaplastic carcinomas, namely those based on low-intensity focused ultrasound and near-infrared irradiation. Although some of these approaches yielded promising results in animal studies, results from clinical trials are currently lacking.