• Recent advances in drug delivery system for hepatocellular carcinoma
  • Samin Maleki,1 Zeinab Sadat Jalali,2,* Nasim Khadem Sharie Samani,3 Faeze Ramezanpor,4
    1. faculty of medicine, Tehran university of medical sciences, Tehran, Iran
    2. student research committee, Jahrom university of medical sciences, Jahrom, Iran
    3. faculty of medicine, Iran university of medical sciences, Tehran, Iran
    4. student research committee, Semnan university of medical sciences, Semnan, Iran


  • Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer in adults and is currently the most common cause of death in people with cirrhosis. HCC is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Therefore, it is very important to develop an efficient treatment method. Drug delivery system (DDS) is a new way of administration of drugs or, more accurately, therapeutic substances into the body. Altering the time, place, and rate of the drug release, helps us improve the drug's efficacy. Therefore, our aim in this study is to review recent advances in drug delivery systems in hepatocellular carcinoma.
  • Methods: For this research, existing articles in PubMed, Web of Science, Sid, and Google Scholar databases that have been published till 2022 are systematically selected, and 16 articles are included in this study. This research is done in English considering the following keywords: Drug delivery systems, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Therapeutics
  • Results: Studies show that recently the drug delivery system has made good progress in the field of nanocarriers. DDS used in the treatment of HCC is mainly nanoparticles, which include: organic nanoparticles, inorganic nanoparticles, polymers, and lipids, which accumulate in the site of cancer cells due to anatomical or pathophysiological characteristics, and by using particles with ligands, they can be effectively bound to cancer cell receptors. Polybutylene cyanoacrylate nanoparticles (DHAD-PBCA-NPS) with dihydroxy anthracenedione nanoparticles can have a good inhibitory effect on the development of HCC. On the other hand, Zp has the highest absorption rate in the liver, which can be very effective in the field of smart drug systems. Dual reactive liposomes under MRI guidance (GNSPLD) can release the drug at the tumor site and also increase the antitumor effect of the drug. These liposomes can be a new development in the field of smart drug delivery systems. Combination therapy has also been reported as a new method for cancer treatment. The combination of doxorubicin (DOX) and DNA (shAkt1) in a coating of poly ethyleneimine, decorated with GA (glycyrrhetinic acid) (PEI-GA) and the gene of cancer cells. The liver has a good effect in delivering drugs to HepG2 cells, autophagy, and apoptosis of these cells.
  • Conclusion: Generally, Drug delivery systems are capable of offering physicians new options for better destruction of cancer cells, especially in biopsy-proven unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. The drug delivery system, as a new interface between the patient and the drug, increases drug efficacy and provides us with new means to cure Hepatocellular carcinoma.
  • Keywords: Drug delivery systems, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Therapeutics