England Christopher G, Ng Chin F, van Berkel Victor, Frieboes Hermann B
Department of Bioengineering, Lutz Hall 419, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA.
Curr Drug Targets. 2015;16(10):1057-87. doi: 10.2174/1389450116666150505122109.
Lung cancer remains a leading cause of death. Current treatment options are generally ineffective, highlighting the dire need for novel approaches. While numerous biologically-active chemotherapeutics have been discovered in the last two decades, biological barriers including minimal water solubility, stability, and cellular resistance hinder in vivo effectiveness. To overcome these limitations, nanoparticles have been designed to deliver chemotherapeutics selectively to cancerous tissue while minimizing pharmacokinetics hindrance. Numerous studies are underway analyzing the efficacy of nanoparticles in drug delivery, theranostic applications, and photothermal therapy. However, while nanoparticles have shown efficacy in treating some cancers, their potential toxicity and lack of targeting may hinder clinical potential. With the aim to help sort through these issues, we conduct a review to describe recent applications of nanotherapeutics for the treatment and diagnosis of lung cancer. We first provide a detailed background of statistics, etiology, histological classification, staging, diagnosis, and current treatment options. This is followed by a description of current applications of nanotherapeutics, focusing primarily on results published during the past five years. The potential toxicity associated with nanoparticles is evaluated, revealing inconclusive information which highlights the need for further studies. Lastly, recent advances in mathematical modeling and computational simulation have shown potential in predicting tumor response to nanotherapeutics. Thus, although nanoparticles have shown promise in treating lung cancer, further multi-disciplinary studies to quantify optimal dosages and assess possible toxicity are still needed. To this end, nanotherapeutic options currently in clinical trials offer hope to help address some of these critical issues.
肺癌仍然是主要的死亡原因。目前的治疗方案通常效果不佳，这凸显了对新方法的迫切需求。尽管在过去二十年中发现了许多具有生物活性的化疗药物，但包括水溶性低、稳定性差和细胞耐药性在内的生物屏障阻碍了其体内疗效。为了克服这些局限性，人们设计了纳米颗粒，以便将化疗药物选择性地输送到癌组织，同时将药代动力学障碍降至最低。目前正在进行大量研究，分析纳米颗粒在药物递送、诊疗应用和光热疗法中的疗效。然而，尽管纳米颗粒在治疗某些癌症方面已显示出疗效，但其潜在毒性和缺乏靶向性可能会阻碍其临床应用潜力。为了帮助梳理这些问题，我们进行了一项综述，以描述纳米治疗药物在肺癌治疗和诊断中的最新应用。我们首先详细介绍了肺癌的统计数据、病因、组织学分类、分期、诊断和当前的治疗方案。接下来描述了纳米治疗药物的当前应用，主要侧重于过去五年发表的研究结果。对与纳米颗粒相关的潜在毒性进行了评估，结果显示信息尚无定论，这凸显了进一步研究的必要性。最后，数学建模和计算模拟的最新进展已显示出预测肿瘤对纳米治疗药物反应的潜力。因此，尽管纳米颗粒在治疗肺癌方面已显示出前景，但仍需要进一步开展多学科研究，以量化最佳剂量并评估可能的毒性。为此，目前正在进行临床试验的纳米治疗方案有望帮助解决其中一些关键问题。
