Introduction: Glioblastoma, a highly prevalent and aggressive form of brain cancer in adults, demonstrates limited responsiveness to current treatments, contributing to a dismal 5-year survival rate of less than 5%. Conventional therapeutic interventions, including surgical removal, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, frequently prove inadequate. This is largely attributed to the tumor's intrinsic location, its hypoxic microenvironment, and the persistent challenge of achieving total eradication. Furthermore, secondary brain tumors, such as those originating from breast cancer or melanoma, carry similarly poor outlooks.
Methods: This review systematically examines the most recent advancements in nanoparticle-based drug delivery methodologies, encompassing gene therapy, receptor-mediated transport mechanisms, and sophisticated multimodal strategies such as the combination of photothermal and magnetic hyperthermia, all with the overarching goal of optimizing therapeutic efficacy for glioblastoma patients.
Results: Recent strides in nanomedicine present encouraging solutions for addressing glioblastoma with targeted approaches. Nanoparticles possess the unique ability to deliver chemotherapeutic agents or radiation-sensitizing compounds directly across the blood-brain barrier to the intended tumor sites. Leveraging the phenomenon of enhanced permeability and retention (EPR), these nanoparticles tend to accumulate preferentially within tumor tissues, where the compromised integrity of the blood-brain barrier facilitates improved delivery efficiency. By carefully modulating nanoparticle attributes, including their size, geometric configuration, and surface charge, investigators have successfully prolonged their circulatory half-life and enhanced their cellular uptake, thereby augmenting their therapeutic impact.
Conclusion: Emerging studies indicate that combining photothermal therapy with magnetic hyperthermia, employing gold nanoparticles and magnetic nanoparticles respectively, can induce reactive oxygen species-dependent programmed cell death (apoptosis) and immunogenic cell death. This provides a dual-action, immune-stimulating strategy.
Keywords: Nanotechnology, Intracellular Drug Delivery, Undruggable Targets, Glioblastoma