• Using natural compounds in novel Nano delivery systems in breast cancer therapy
  • Hanieh Ataollahi,1,* Helia Ramezani,2
    1. Faculty of Biological Science, Department of Biotechnology, Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran.
    2. Faculty of Biological Science, Department of Biotechnology, Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran.


  • Introduction: Introduction: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers that threaten women's health around the world. Surgery, chemotherapy, irradiation, and hormonal therapy are the four types of treatment options for this disease. Low aqueous solubility, irritant nature, lack of stability, fast metabolism, and nonselective drug distribution are all characteristics of several contemporary anticancer medicines. These characteristics can result in suboptimal therapeutic activity, dose-limiting side effects, and poor patient quality of life. Natural materials have many unique features, including chemical diversity, biological and chemical properties of macromolecular specificity, and low toxicity. As a result, they are good candidates for novel drugs. The aim of this research is to clarify the opportunities and challenges of using natural compounds in drug delivery systems from natural sources in breast cancer therapy.
  • Methods: Methods: The purpose of this review was to assess new breast cancer therapies that have been reviewed in articles published between 2011 and 2021 using the keywords “breast cancer”, “various drug delivery systems”,and “natural compounds”. These articles were selected and used based on the titles and abstracts of related articles from various databases such as “ScienceDirect”, “Springer”, and “PubMed”. The results were obtained by studying the full text of the selected articles.
  • Results: Results: Among different drug delivery systems in cancer therapy nanoparticles has a potential impact on various cancer. Improved bioavailability by the aqueous solubility, increased resistance time in the body, and drug targeting to particular tissues in the body are all advantages of nanoparticles. Natural materials are derived from the endogenous chemical compositions of plant extracts, including flavonoids, alkaloids, essential oils, polysaccharides, quinonoids, terpenoids, saponins, and coumarins. According to studies, some natural compounds effective in the treatment of breast cancer include curcumin derived from Curcuma longa, Xanthoumol in hops (Humulus Iupulus L.), Garcinol drived from Garcinia indica, Mangiferin, and Luteolin. Due to the positive effects of these natural compounds, they will play a unique role in the development of drug delivery systems.
  • Conclusion: Conclusion: Using natural compounds in developing new drug delivery systems can be absolutely beneficial and they might have a lot of functional roles instead of synthetic material with a variety of side effects. These natural compounds which are biodegradable and biocompatible would have a certain place in the future owing to their capability to prevent different sorts of cancers.
  • Keywords: Keywords: Drug delivery, Breast cancer, Natural compounds, Nanoparticles