Nanoscale delivery systems for cancer treatment
Karim Saber Hussein Shalaby;
Abstract
Cancer is one of the most leading causes of death in Egypt and all over the world. Breast cancer is one of the common types of cancer that occurs in women with an incidence rate of 48.8 case per 100000 Egyptian women. The treatment of cancer involve a combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapeutics. Conventional chemotherapeutic agents are nonspecific in activity resulting in severe side effects on rapidly proliferating normal cells that may be life threatening. Besides, the excessive use of nonspecific anticancer drugs leads to the development of resistance to these agents. Therefore, the development of a controlled release formof these drugs that can be inserted within the cancer cells in a greater extent while sparing normal cells will result in a tremendous effect on the safety and the cytotoxic activity of these drugs.
Nanoscale delivery systems can be used as carriers for anticancer drugs to overcome most of the aforementioned limitations of chemotherapeutics. Nanoparticles having a particle size less than 200 nm have been studied and found to be passively targeted and accumulated within cancer tissues due to the EPR effect. Moreover, nanoparticles have the ability to be formulated in different forms to suit different types of cancer and different types of targeting strategies. Biodegradable Polymeric nanoparticles have the benefits of high steric stability and long circulation time especially when attached to PEG. Nanoparticles based on PEG/PLA and PEG/PCL block copolymers have been extensively studied and found to be easily prepared with a great effect on enhancement of activity of anticancer drugs. Being biodegradable in nature, these copolymers are nontoxic and don’t accumulate in body when administered at low concentrations.
Noscapine is an opium alkaloid that was found to have anticancer activity. Its cytotoxicity is attributed to its binding to microtubules arresting their growth, resulting in arresting the cancer cells during mitosis and leading to apoptosis. Unfortunately, Noscapine has some limitations, namely its low solubility and short half-life, which reduces its activity as anticancer agent. Many attempts have been done to increase the potency of Noscapine through the formulation of Noscapine loaded nanoparticles.
Therefore, we aimed in this thesis to develop Noscapine loaded biodegradable nanoparticles that would be easily prepared, for the purpose of improving the potency and the pharmacokinetic profile of Noscapine in cancer patients. Hence, this thesis was divided into three chapters:
Nanoscale delivery systems can be used as carriers for anticancer drugs to overcome most of the aforementioned limitations of chemotherapeutics. Nanoparticles having a particle size less than 200 nm have been studied and found to be passively targeted and accumulated within cancer tissues due to the EPR effect. Moreover, nanoparticles have the ability to be formulated in different forms to suit different types of cancer and different types of targeting strategies. Biodegradable Polymeric nanoparticles have the benefits of high steric stability and long circulation time especially when attached to PEG. Nanoparticles based on PEG/PLA and PEG/PCL block copolymers have been extensively studied and found to be easily prepared with a great effect on enhancement of activity of anticancer drugs. Being biodegradable in nature, these copolymers are nontoxic and don’t accumulate in body when administered at low concentrations.
Noscapine is an opium alkaloid that was found to have anticancer activity. Its cytotoxicity is attributed to its binding to microtubules arresting their growth, resulting in arresting the cancer cells during mitosis and leading to apoptosis. Unfortunately, Noscapine has some limitations, namely its low solubility and short half-life, which reduces its activity as anticancer agent. Many attempts have been done to increase the potency of Noscapine through the formulation of Noscapine loaded nanoparticles.
Therefore, we aimed in this thesis to develop Noscapine loaded biodegradable nanoparticles that would be easily prepared, for the purpose of improving the potency and the pharmacokinetic profile of Noscapine in cancer patients. Hence, this thesis was divided into three chapters:
Other data
| Title | Nanoscale delivery systems for cancer treatment | Other Titles | أنظمة توصيل نانوية لعلاج السرطان | Authors | Karim Saber Hussein Shalaby | Issue Date | 2015 |
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