Nanomedicines for Pediatric Cancers

Abstract

Chemotherapy protocols for childhood cancers are still problematic due to the high toxicity associated with chemotherapeutic agents and incorrect dosing regimens extrapolated from adults. Nanotechnology has demonstrated significant ability to reduce toxicity of anticancer compounds. Improvement in the therapeutic index of cytostatic drugs makes this strategy an alternative to common chemotherapy in adults. However, the lack of nanomedicines specifically for pediatric cancer care raises a medical conundrum. This review highlights the current state and progress of nanomedicine in pediatric cancer and discusses the real clinical challenges and opportunities.

Overcoming Biological Barriers in Neuroblastoma Therapy: The Vascular Targeting Approach with Liposomal Drug Nanocarriers

“…[29] Thus, much effort has been made for increasing the delivery and penetration of liposomal-carried drugs into tumors, [30][31][32][33] including NB. [34][35][36][37][38] Although the so-called "enhanced permeability and retention effect" (owing to leaky vessels typically present in tumors) has served as a rationale for using nanoformulated drugs to treat solid tumors, it is generally believed that this effect is not sufficient to guarantee uniform drug delivery to all tumor regions, because of the many physiological barriers, mentioned above, present in tumor tissues. [39][40][41] Thus, we believe that a therapeutic strategy based on the use of liposomal vectors functionalized with tumor-homing and tumor-penetrating peptides might help anticancer drugs to overcome the barriers and to penetrate rapidly and deeply into the tumor, thus increasing their therapeutic effects.…”

“…Thus, much effort has been made for increasing the delivery and penetration of liposomal‐carried drugs into tumors, including NB . Although the so‐called “enhanced permeability and retention effect” (owing to leaky vessels typically present in tumors) has served as a rationale for using nanoformulated drugs to treat solid tumors, it is generally believed that this effect is not sufficient to guarantee uniform drug delivery to all tumor regions, because of the many physiological barriers, mentioned above, present in tumor tissues .…”

Comparison of Chitosan Nanoparticles and Soluplus Micelles to Optimize the Bioactivity of Posidonia oceanica Extract on Human Neuroblastoma Cell Migration

“…Furthermore, innovative strategies, like nanotechnology, have achieved great results toward ameliorating cancer therapeutics. The use of new therapeutics delivery system, as nanocarriers, may improve efficacy and decrease systemic toxicity during treatment of malignancies compared to the use of "free" drugs [11][12][13]. Among the varieties of nanoformulations known in the literature, nanoparticles and polymeric micelles are of great interest for pharmacological applications.…”

The liposomal delivery of hydrophobic oxidovanadium complexes imparts highly effective cytotoxicity and differentiating capacity in neuroblastoma tumour cells

“…Although this appears feasible in neuroblastoma xenograft models 68,69 , it is unclear whether EPR is relevant here clinically. The delivery of oxidovanadium complexes in vivo for neuroblastoma would likely need more advanced liposomal technology, such as tumour targeting with RGD-based peptides 60,69 , or antibodies specific for disialoganglioside 2 (GD2), a key antigen on neuroblastoma cells 70,71 . PEGylated lipids can also be employed.…”