This review article is based on specifically targeted nanoparticles that have been used
in the treatment of melanoma. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, within 2017 an
estimated 9730 people will die due to invasive melanoma. Conventional treatments for
nonmalignant melanoma include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. For the treatment of
metastatic melanoma, 3 therapeutic agents have been approved by the Food and Drug
Administration: dacarbazine, recombinant interferon α-2b, and high-dose interleukin 2.
Photodynamic therapy is an alternative therapy that activates a photosensitizer at a
specific wavelength forming reactive oxygen species which in turn induces cell death; it
is noninvasive with far less side effects when compared to conventional treatments.
Nanoparticles are generally conjugated to photosynthetic drugs, since they are
biocompatible, stabile, and durable, as well as have a high loading capacity, which
improve either passive or active photosensitizer drug delivery to targeted cells.
Therefore, various photosynthetic drugs and nanoparticle drug delivery systems
specifically targeted for melanoma were analyzed in this review article in relation to
either their passive or their active cellular uptake mechanisms in order to deduce the
efficacy of photodynamic therapy treatment for metastatic melanoma which currently remains
ongoing. The overall findings from this review concluded that no current photodynamic
therapy studies have been performed in relation to active nanoparticle platform
photosensitizer drug carrier systems for the treatment of metastatic melanoma, and so this
type of research requires further investigation into developing a more efficient active
nano-photosensitizer carrier smart drug that can be conjugated to specific cell surface
receptors and combinative monoclonal antibodies so that a further enhanced and more
efficient form of targeted photodynamic therapy for the treatment of metastatic melanoma
can be established.