Pure drug nano-assemblies: A facile carrier-free nanoplatform for efficient cancer therapy

Abstract

Nanoparticulate drug delivery systems (Nano-DDSs) have emerged as possible solution to the obstacles of anticancer drug delivery. However, the clinical outcomes and translation are restricted by several drawbacks, such as low drug loading, premature drug leakage and carrier-related toxicity. Recently, pure drug nano-assemblies (PDNAs), fabricated by the self-assembly or co-assembly of pure drug molecules, have attracted considerable attention. Their facile and reproducible preparation technique helps to remove the bottleneck of nanomedicines including quality control, scale-up production and clinical translation. Acting as both carriers and cargos, the carrier-free PDNAs have an ultra-high or even 100% drug loading. In addition, combination therapies based on PDNAs could possibly address the most intractable problems in cancer treatment, such as tumor metastasis and drug resistance. In the present review, the latest development of PDNAs for cancer treatment is overviewed. First, PDNAs are classified according to the composition of drug molecules, and the assembly mechanisms are discussed. Furthermore, the co-delivery of PDNAs for combination therapies is summarized, with special focus on the improvement of therapeutic outcomes. Finally, future prospects and challenges of PDNAs for efficient cancer therapy are spotlighted.

A minimalist and robust chemo-photothermal nanoplatform capable of augmenting autophagy-modulated immune response against breast cancer

“…Itraconazole can generate a large amount of ROS, killing tumors through apoptosis and autophagic death, as well as inhibiting the Hedgehog pathway [ 9 , 13 ]. Moreover, immunogenic death and itraconazole-mediated autophagy may promote the immune presentation of tumor antigens and enhance the immune killing of tumors [ 16 , 63 ].…”

Research progress on self-assembled nanodrug delivery systems

“…34 DSDSs is usually prepared by one-step nanoprecipitation, which is simple and repeatable, helping to eliminate the bottleneck of quality control, mass production and clinical transformation of nanomaterials, as well as the complex step of preparing excipient nanomaterials, avoiding the preparation and introduction of many carriers (increasing production costs). 35 In addition to the advantages mentioned above, vector-free nanomaterials also show excellent flexibility and variability. 36 By optimizing the key characteristics of nanomaterials, such as size, shape, surface chemistry and long-term stability, they can be internalized more effectively, and their clinical safety can be improved so that they can be timely applied in clinical practice.…”

Chemotherapeutic nanomaterials in tumor boundary delineation: Prospects for effective tumor treatment

“…The past decade has witnessed significant advances in nanomaterial-based drug delivery, especially for tumor treatment 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 . As regards tumor chemotherapy in general, research in our laboratories on tumor-targeted chemotherapeutic nanomaterials have also contributed a great deal to recent advances on tumor chemotherapy.…”