Review of Recent Advances and Their Improvement in the Effectiveness of Hydrogel-Based Targeted Drug Delivery: A Hope for Treating Cancer

Abstract

Using hydrogels for delivering cancer therapeutics is advantageous in pharmaceutical usage as they have an edge over traditional delivery, which is tainted due to the risk of toxicity that it imbues. Hydrogel usage leads to the development of a more controlled drug release system owing to its amenability for structural metamorphosis, its higher porosity to seat the drug molecules, and its ability to shield the drug from denaturation. The thing that makes its utility even more enhanced is that they make themselves more recognizable to the body tissues and hence can stay inside the body for a longer time, enhancing the efficiency of the delivery, which otherwise is negatively affected since the drug is identified by the human immunity as a foreign substance, and thus, an attack of the immunity begins on the drug injected. A variety of hydrogels such as thermosensitive, pH-sensitive, and magnetism-responsive hydrogels have been included and their potential usage in drug delivery has been discussed in this review that aims to present recent studies on hydrogels that respond to alterations under a variety of circumstances in “reducing” situations that mimic the microenvironment of cancerous cells.

Intraperitoneal administration of thermosensitive hydrogel Co-loaded with norcantharidin nanoparticles and oxaliplatin inhibits malignant ascites of hepatocellular carcinoma

“…The MPEG-PCL copolymer was used as the carrier for NCTD owing to its biodegradability and biocompatibility (Wang et al, 2011 ; Gong et al, 2013 ). Furthermore, PECE hydrogel is also a suitable matrix for different types of drugs due to its biodegradability, thermo-responsiveness and biocompatibility (Fu et al, 2012 ; du Toit et al, 2021 ; Sonker et al, 2021 ). Temperature-sensitive hydrogels can spontaneously transform to the gel phase at body temperature without any additional catalyst.…”

A review of recent advances in metal ion hydrogels: mechanism, properties and their biological applications

“…[75][76][77] The introduction of metal ions further optimized the performance of the hydrogel. 66,78,79 The redox reaction was one of the most common response systems brought about by metal coordination. 80 Metal ions formed different chemical bonds based on the change of valence state of redox reactions, which changed the original properties of physical and chemical states, and then formed different hydrogel networks (Fig.…”

Developments on the Smart Hydrogel-Based Drug Delivery System for Oral Tumor Therapy

“…These hydrogels are less prone to damage from tissue movement and have more stable mechanical characteristics than the anionic and cationic pH-responsive hydrogels. Taking into account the obvious movement of oral tissue during daily activities, the drug delivery system of covalent pH-responsive hydrogel in oral cancer chemotherapy should be more stable [ 118 ].…”