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Introduction to Cancer, Conventional Therapies, and Bionano-Based Advanced Anticancer Strategies
Published in D. Sakthi Kumar, Aswathy Ravindran Girija, Bionanotechnology in Cancer, 2023
Some of the cells found in the tumor microenvironment interact with the tumor to promote its growth. For instance, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are found to be pro-tumorigenic as they are implicated in the migration, invasion, and metastasis of malignant cells. Studies have shown that an abundance of TAMs in the tumor microenvironment is linked to a poor prognosis. TAMs are also the main contributors to tumor angiogenesis. Furthermore, in hypoxic areas of tumors, TAMs are found to accumulate there due to the release of hypoxia-induced chemo-attractants. Other cells found in the tumor microenvironment and that are associated with tumor development are tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs). There is evidence that TANs contribute to tumor growth and metastasis. In addition, studies have shown that TANs have a pro-tumorigenic effect by suppressing the immune system and enhancing angiogenesis. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) arise from residential fibroblasts that differentiate into myofibroblasts, during tissue injury. Studies have shown that CAFs increase the risk of development of malignant cells. In addition, the arrangement of CAFs in the tumor microenvironment enables them to restrict the ability of the chemotherapeutic agents from reaching malignant cells [62].
The Multiple Facets of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Modulating Tumor Cells’ Proliferation and Progression
Published in Jince Thomas, Sabu Thomas, Nandakumar Kalarikkal, Jiya Jose, Nanoparticles in Polymer Systems for Biomedical Applications, 2019
Rajesh Ramasamy, Vahid Hosseinpour Sarmadi
Cancer, the second leading cause of death after cardiovascular diseases, is a generic term for a group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells to other organs. According to the World Health Organization predictions, the number of cancers (excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer) will increase approximately to 17 million, and 10 million patients are projected to perish due to cancer in the year 2020.1 Despite a considerable improvement in diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer, unresponsiveness of cancer to the conventional treatments such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiotherapy has been the main obstacles to cancer treatment. In fact, the lifespan of most patients who are undergoing such treatments is severely affected by therapy-related life-threatening complications or recurrence of metastasis. Therefore, it is deemed necessary to explore the effective treatment strategies that specifically target tumor cells. Although most of the studies in the past decades were focused on cancer cells, recent studies have shown that the tumor microenvironment has a major impact on cancer cell growth and metastasis.2 The tumor microenvironment is composed of vascular endothelial cells (ECs), pericytes, different types of inflammatory cells associated with the immune system,3 stromal cells such as tumor-associated fibroblasts (TAFs) and mesenchymal cells.4
Recapitulating Tumor Extracellular Matrix: Design Criteria for Developing Three-Dimensional Tumor Models
Published in Alok Dhawan, Sanjay Singh, Ashutosh Kumar, Rishi Shanker, Nanobiotechnology, 2018
It is clearly evident that the ECM plays a significant role in tumor cell behavior. Specific ECM components append to cell surface receptors and stimulate peculiar responses for cell polarity, growth, drug resistance, or metastatic potential. In recent years, the tumor microenvironment has been recognized as a major contributor to tumor progression and has become the focus of extensive research as a potential target for chemoprevention. It is now well recognized that to effectively investigate the pathobiology of human cancers, it is necessary to recreate the appropriate tumor microenvironment; 3D tumor models perhaps could be appropriate models to fulfill the need. The native ECM can be deconstructed and serve as a clue for reconstructing artificial scaffolds for generation of 3D tumor models. The discussed models have been fabricated based on fundamental knowledge of the tumor microenvironment. These culture models have delivered new understandings regarding the contribution of matrix properties and their outcome on drug delivery, diffusion, toxicity, and drug response. Each model has distinct ECM-mimicking properties that regulate tumor cell physiology and provide a closer look toward in vivo tumor drug-response behaviors. Along with that, these culture models are quite economical and will possibly reduce the usage of in vivo animal models as well as the cost of clinical phase trials.
Recent advances in nanotechnology based combination drug therapy for skin cancer
Published in Journal of Biomaterials Science, Polymer Edition, 2022
Shweta Kumari, Prabhat Kumar Choudhary, Rahul Shukla, Amirhossein Sahebkar, Prashant Kesharwani
Nanotechnology methods represent a chance to advance the treatment strategies for different types of cancers. Nanomedicine has a massive potential to advance the selectivity in aiming neoplastic cells by permitting the privileged drug delivery to tumour cells owing to the improved permeability and retention effect (Figure 1). Moreover, specific binding of drugs to targets in cancer cells or the tumour microenvironment enhances the efficacy of the specific treatment of cancer cells, though leaving healthy cells undamaged [4–9, 10]. Wei et al. [11], suggested that the receptor-targeting nanoparticles were significantly more effective than unmodified nanoparticles therapeutics for increasing tumour intracellular drug release. The cellular uptake and anti-cancerous efficacy is also found to be increased by means of incubating cells with micelles due to the reversal of micelles charge conversion [12, 13].
Anticancer effects of carboxymethylated (1→3)(1→6)-β-D-glucan (botryosphaeran) on multicellular tumor spheroids of MCF-7 cells as a model of breast cancer
Published in Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, 2022
Andressa Y. Fujiike, Celina Y. A. L. Lee, Fabiana S. T. Rodrigues, Larissa C. B. Oliveira, Aneli M. Barbosa-Dekker, Robert F. H. Dekker, Ilce M. S. Cólus, Juliana M. Serpeloni
Anticancer effects of botryosphaeran were previously demonstrated in vitro using the conventional two-dimensional (2D) model (Kerche-Silva et al. 2017; Malini et al. 2016, 2015). Cell culture systems in three-dimensional (3D) models such as multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTS) are a reliable alternative that might successfully reproduce various aspects of the tumor microenvironment (Bhattacharya et al. 2020; Ramos et al. 2019). This might include (1) heterogeneous mass transport of nutrients and oxygen between cells, (2) intercellular interactions, and (3) changes in cell metabolism and the condition of hypoxia, to enable a better assessment of the ability of drugs to penetrate tumor tissues (Pinto et al. 2020).