Gao Xiangyu, Caruso Benjamin R, Li Weimin
Department of Translational Medicine and Physiology, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane, WA 99202, USA.
Doctor of Medicine Program, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane, WA 99202, USA.
Gels. 2024 Jul 19;10(7):479. doi: 10.3390/gels10070479.
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women and is the second leading cause of cancer-related death for women. Depending on the tumor grade and stage, breast cancer is primarily treated with surgery and antineoplastic therapy. Direct or indirect side effects, emotional trauma, and unpredictable outcomes accompany these traditional therapies, calling for therapies that could improve the overall treatment and recovery experiences of patients. Hydrogels, biomimetic materials with 3D network structures, have shown great promise for augmenting breast cancer therapy. Hydrogel implants can be made with adipogenic and angiogenic properties for tissue integration. 3D organoids of malignant breast tumors grown in hydrogels retain the physical and genetic characteristics of the native tumors, allowing for post-surgery recapitulation of the diseased tissues for precision medicine assessment of the responsiveness of patient-specific cancers to antineoplastic treatment. Hydrogels can also be used as carrier matrices for delivering chemotherapeutics and immunotherapeutics or as post-surgery prosthetic scaffolds. The hydrogel delivery systems could achieve localized and controlled medication release targeting the tumor site, enhancing efficacy and minimizing the adverse effects of therapeutic agents delivered by traditional procedures. This review aims to summarize the most recent advancements in hydrogel utilization for breast cancer post-surgery tissue reconstruction, tumor modeling, and therapy and discuss their limitations in clinical translation.
乳腺癌是女性中最常见的恶性肿瘤，也是女性癌症相关死亡的第二大主要原因。根据肿瘤分级和分期，乳腺癌主要通过手术和抗肿瘤治疗。这些传统疗法伴随着直接或间接的副作用、情感创伤以及不可预测的结果，因此需要能够改善患者整体治疗和康复体验的疗法。水凝胶是具有三维网络结构的仿生材料，在增强乳腺癌治疗方面显示出巨大潜力。水凝胶植入物可以制成具有成脂和血管生成特性以实现组织整合。在水凝胶中生长的恶性乳腺肿瘤的三维类器官保留了原发肿瘤的物理和遗传特征，使得术后能够重现病变组织，用于对患者特异性癌症对抗肿瘤治疗的反应性进行精准医学评估。水凝胶还可以用作递送化疗药物和免疫治疗药物的载体基质，或用作术后假体支架。水凝胶递送系统可以实现靶向肿瘤部位的局部和可控药物释放，提高疗效并将传统给药方式所递送治疗药物的不良反应降至最低。本综述旨在总结水凝胶在乳腺癌术后组织重建、肿瘤建模和治疗中的最新应用进展，并讨论其在临床转化中的局限性。
