A Complete Sojourn of Liposomes in Breast Cancer Therapy: Types, Preparation Techniques, Lipid Selection, and...

Breast Cancer (BC) continues to exist as the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women globally. The burden of BC continues to rise despite extensive research efforts dedicated to its diagnosis, prevention, and management. In recent years, nanotherapeutics have shown promising advancements over conventional therapies, including better drug encapsulation, reduced toxicity, multiplied stability, and extended half-life through addressing the limitations of traditional diagnostic and treatment methods. Additionally, their tiny size improves pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, making them more effective. Various polymeric, vesicular, and emulsion-based novel drug delivery nano-formulations are vigorously undergoing preclinical and clinical testing for the treatment of BC, focusing on the diverse types of liposomes employed, including conventional, stealth, targeted, and stimuli-responsive formulations. Among these, liposomes have emerged as a stand-out drug delivery system due to their properties, such as biocompatibility, enhanced drug-loading capacity, ease of manufacturing, cost-effectiveness, and stability during transportation. Nearly 50 years of groundbreaking research on liposomes have led to significant technical breakthroughs, including remote drug loading, uniform size extrusion, long-circulating (PEGylated) liposomes, triggered release liposomes, nucleic acid polymer-containing liposomes, ligand-targeted liposomes, and multi-drug liposomes. The following advancements have spurred numerous clinical trials in diverse areas, especially in BC treatment. The objective of this review is to consolidate current knowledge on liposomal strategies, providing a critical analysis of their design, fabrication, and characterization, to guide the development of effective liposome-based breast cancer therapies and personalized treatment strategies.