Platelets for advanced drug delivery in cancer

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Nanotechnology
• Oncology

Background:

• Rising cancer drug costs challenge patient access.
• Increasing cancer incidence necessitates cost-effective treatment strategies.
• Enhancing the efficacy of existing cancer drugs is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the potential of platelets as drug delivery systems for cancer therapy.
• To explore platelet-cancer interactions as a basis for novel drug delivery platforms.
• To assess the current state of research and clinical relevance of platelet-based drug delivery.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature search of PubMed and Google Scholar up to January 2023.
• Inclusion of English-language papers reflecting the state of the art.
• Author discretion in paper selection for review.

Main Results:

• Platelet-cancer interactions can be leveraged for drug delivery.
• Platelet-based systems (loaded, bound, or hybrid vesicles) may enhance pharmacokinetics and targeting.
• Animal models show improved therapeutic efficacy, but human data is lacking.

Conclusions:

• Platelet-based drug delivery offers a promising strategy for cancer treatment.
• Further clinical investigation is required to establish the human applicability of these systems.
• The clinical relevance of platelet-based drug delivery remains uncertain pending human trials.