Nanoparticle-Based Therapeutics for Breast Cancer: Advances, Challenges, and Clinical Perspectives

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Nanomedicine
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Breast cancer (BC) is a leading cause of cancer deaths in women globally, with over 2.3 million cases and 670,000 deaths annually.
• Conventional BC treatments face limitations including drug resistance, toxicity, and poor efficacy in advanced stages.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the latest advancements in nanoparticle (NP)-based therapeutics for breast cancer treatment.
• To explore various NP platforms, targeting strategies, and the preclinical and clinical progress of nanotherapeutics for BC.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature search was conducted using Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed.
• The review focused on recent developments in NP-based BC therapies, including platforms, targeting, and clinical translation.

Main Results:

• Nanoparticle-based approaches (e.g., liposomes, dendrimers, micelles) enhance targeted drug delivery, improve bioavailability, and reduce systemic toxicity in BC treatment.
• Engineered NPs improve drug precision, cellular uptake, and overcome resistance mechanisms, with potential for theranostic applications.

Conclusions:

• Nanoparticles offer a promising strategy to overcome limitations of conventional breast cancer therapies.
• Further development in scalable production, safety, biodistribution, and regulatory pathways is crucial for clinical translation of nanotherapeutics.
• Tailored theranostics using multi-omics profiling and advanced systems like imaging-guided or stimuli-responsive NPs are key for future BC management.