Nanoparticles, Aptamers and Aptamer-Conjugated Nanoparticles in Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Cancer represents one of the main causes of death around the world, causing about 10 million deaths in the year 2020. Large progress has been made in the discovery of targeted therapy for cancer in recent years. Targeted therapy is a branch of cancer treatment that targets a specific site, without affecting the surroundings. The current review focused on recent achievements in the field of targeted anti-cancer drug delivery based on aptamers, nanoparticles and aptamer-conjugated nanoparticles. It included a comprehensive survey of almost all recent studies published on this topic and comprehensively discussed the properties, advantages and disadvantages of using these formulations as delivery vehicles in cancer therapy. We also provided examples of nanoparticles, aptamers targeting cancer biomarkers, aptamer-drug conjugates and aptamer- conjugated nanoparticles, employed in targeted cancer therapies, and discussed the cytotoxicity of these formulations on cancer and non-cancer cell lines. The factors that can trigger nanoparticles for optimal drug release were also discussed. We hope that this review will provide additional information that will facilitate advanced applications of nanoparticle/ aptamer based drug delivery systems for cancer therapy.