Liposomal nano-formulations: advancement in lung cancer treatment

According to the WHO statistical report of 2022, lung cancer has the highest cancer mortality rate with 1.8 million deaths annually. Conventional treatment options for lung cancer include chemotherapy, surgical treatment and radiotherapy. Chemotherapy is associated with various challenges of drug resistance and toxicity. Diagnosis of lung cancer is also difficult due to the non-specific symptoms that overlap with other respiratory disorders like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Nano-formulations and particularly liposomes, offer a modern approach to address these issues. These lipid-based nano-carriers can be equipped with imaging agents that help to establish accurate and timely diagnosis of lung cancers. Moreover, liposomes loaded with anti-cancer drugs and genetic materials for chemotherapy and gene therapy, respectively, have shown a high success rate in cell lines studies and clinical trials. Inhaled liposome formulations such as aerosols and nebulizers are another advanced approach that has been investigated over past few years. This review article will provide a comprehensive summary of liposomes as novel drug delivery system, their preparation, methods of drug-loading, and their key role for lung cancer treatment. Moreover, a comparative analysis of liposomes with other nanocarriers to treat lung cancer is provided. Lastly, we have communicated the diverse scope of liposomal aerosols in inhalation therapy and medical devices for application in lung cancer.