Nanotechnology Applications for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma

Abstract

Diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPGs) are invariably fatal tumors found in the pons of elementary school aged children. These tumors are grade II-IV gliomas, with a median survival of less than 1 year from diagnosis when treated with standard of care (SOC) therapy. Nanotechnology may offer therapeutic options for the treatment of DIPGs. Multiple nanoparticle formulations are currently being investigated for the treatment of DIPGs. Nanoparticles based upon stable elements, polymer nanoparticles, and organic nanoparticles are under development for the treatment of brain tumors, including DIPGs. Targeting of nanoparticles is now possible as delivery techniques that address the difficulty in crossing the blood brain barrier (BBB) are developed. Theranostic nanoparticles, a combination of therapeutics and diagnostic nanoparticles, improve imaging of the cancerous tissue while delivering therapy to the local region. However, additional time and attention should be directed to developing a nanoparticle delivery system for treatment of the uniformly fatal pediatric disease of DIPG.

Dental Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells and Their Exosomes

“…However, nanomedicine may offer novel therapeutic options for the treatment of DIPGs. Multiple nanoparticle formulations capable of traversing the blood-brain barrier into the pons like Qdots, gold nanoparticles, dendrimers, and liposomes have been studied as a potential tool for therapeutic intervention [ 65 ]. For example, effective treatment of rat glioblastoma with the prodrug gene therapy mediated by human AT-MSCs engineered to express a suicide gene was likely the consequence of the action of exosomes [ 66 ].…”

Potential New Therapies for Pediatric Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma

“…Genetically engineered human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hAT-MSCs) encoding the tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) were found to control brainstem gliomas, indicating that of non-virally engineered hAT-MSCs are safe and effective against brainstem gliomas and showing that stem-cell-based targeted gene therapy may be clinically applicable ( Choi et al, 2010 ). At present, various multiple nanoparticle formulations are being investigated for the treatment of DIPGs ( Bredlau et al, 2017 ).…”

Radio-Resistance and DNA Repair in Pediatric Diffuse Midline Gliomas

“…Interestingly, some studies suggest that the brainstem region may have even more robust BBB compared to other areas of the brain [ 24 ]. Numerous methods have been developed in an attempt to bypass this barrier—among these, convention-enhanced delivery (CED) or the use of nanoparticles are being extensively tested in pre-clinical as well as the clinical setting [ 25 , 26 ]. The CED approach utilizes a catheter to deliver drugs directly to the target region [ 26 ].…”