Hariharan Arvind, Tran Simon D
McGill Craniofacial Tissue Engineering and Stem Cells Laboratory, Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences, McGill University, 3640 University Street, Montreal, QC H3A 0C7, Canada.
Pharmaceutics. 2023 Jun 28;15(7):1844. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15071844.
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common cancers in the world, with surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy being the primary treatment modalities. The treatment for HNSCC has evolved over time, due to which the prognosis has improved drastically. Despite the varied treatment options, major challenges persist. HNSCC chemotherapeutic and immunotherapeutic drugs are usually administered systemically, which could affect the patient's quality of life due to the associated side effects. Moreover, the systemic administration of salivary stimulating agents for the treatment of radiation-induced xerostomia is associated with toxicities. Localized drug delivery systems (LDDS) are gaining importance, as they have the potential to provide non-invasive, patient-friendly alternatives to cancer therapy with reduced dose-limiting toxicities. LDDSs involve directly delivering a drug to the tissue or organ affected by the disease. Some of the common localized routes of administration include the transdermal and transmucosal drug delivery system (DDSs). This review will attempt to explore the different treatment options using LDDSs for the treatment of HNSCC and radiotherapy-induced damage and their potential to provide a better experience for patients, as well as the obstacles that need to be addressed to render them successful.
头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）是世界上最常见的癌症之一，手术、放疗、化疗和免疫疗法是主要的治疗方式。由于HNSCC的治疗方法随着时间的推移不断发展，其预后有了显著改善。尽管有多种治疗选择，但主要挑战依然存在。HNSCC的化疗和免疫治疗药物通常是全身给药，由于相关的副作用，这可能会影响患者的生活质量。此外，全身使用唾液刺激剂治疗放射性口干症也存在毒性。局部给药系统（LDDS）正变得越来越重要，因为它们有可能提供非侵入性、患者友好的癌症治疗替代方案，并降低剂量限制毒性。LDDS包括将药物直接递送至受疾病影响的组织或器官。一些常见的局部给药途径包括透皮和透粘膜给药系统（DDS）。本综述将试图探讨使用LDDS治疗HNSCC和放疗引起的损伤的不同治疗选择，以及它们为患者提供更好体验的潜力，以及使其成功需要解决的障碍。
