Nanotechnology-based therapy for malignant tumors of the central nervous system

Abstract

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an insidious cancer for which there are currently no efficient treatments. The major impediments to successful treatment of GBM are the tumor cells’ inherent ability to develop resistance to chemotherapeutic agents and ionizing radiation and to migrate and invade normal surrounding tissues. These disastrous characteristics lead to post-treatment tumor recurrence uniformly and result in a high mortality rate. Approaches designed to target and eliminate post-surgical GBMs and their invading cells would result in significant clinical improvements for this cancer. Success in the clinic will come from personalization of cancer therapies. This will first require an in-depth understanding of gliomas at the molecular level to uncover weaknesses that can be therapeutically exploited along with novel approaches that are designed to deliver those therapeutic agents. Biological nanotechnology is a growing field that offers significant improvements in methods of drug delivery for cancer in general and in malignant gliomas. Nanooncology represents one of the most significant applications of nanotechnology to medicine and is poised to produce momentous changes in cancer treatment protocols. For instance, nanoparticles have recently been shown to offer multifunctional platforms combining diagnostics, therapeutics delivery and monitoring of treatment response, demonstrating how nanooncology is paradigm shifting. Here, we review these technologies and forecast improvement in the delivery of therapeutic agents to malignant brain tumors.