Chronobiology and Nanotechnology for Personalized Cancer Therapy

Abstract

As a consequence of Earth’s rotation in its axis, most organisms in this planet are subjected to a 24-hour variation in light and temperature. A diverse range of species developed an internal timekeeping system that allows the organisms to better adapt and even anticipate those daily variations. This system is called biological clock and is the subject of study of chronobiology. At a molecular level, this clock is based on an autoregulatory transcription-translation feedback loop comprised by clock genes/proteins that are present in almost every tissue in mammals and regulate several physiological processes. Over the past decades, a link between circadian clock and cancer development was established. Moreover, it is known, based on clinical trials, that some anticancer medications function better when taken at a specific time of the day. This concept of the inclusion of circadian time on therapy, called chronotherapy, has been proven to improve the tolerability and antitumor efficacy of anticancer drugs. Likewise, research on nanotechnology also proved to be a valuable tool to provide innovative approaches for enhanced treatment outcomes, as it offers the means to selectively target cancer cells and deliver a safer and effective therapy. The long dream of medicine relies in the implementation of a precise, personalized therapy in the healthcare network. Personalized medicine faces the challenge of common medications not being effective to a big part of the population, increasing healthcare costs on the long term. In this chapter, we discuss how chronotherapy and nanotechnology could have an impact in personalized cancer treatment, by coordinating drug delivery administration with an individual’s circadian rhythm.