Over the last decade, numerous investigations have attempted to clarify the intricacies of tumor development to propose effective approaches for cancer treatment. Thanks to the unique properties of hydrogels, researchers have made significant progress in tumor model reconstruction, tumor diagnosis, and associated therapies. Notably, hydrogel-based systems can be adjusted to respond to cancer-specific hallmarks and/or external stimuli. These well-known drug reservoirs can be used as smart carriers for multiple cargos, including both naked and nanoparticle-encapsulated chemotherapeutics, genes, and radioisotopes. Recent works have attempted to specialize hydrogels for cancer research; we comprehensively review this topic for the first time, synthesizing past results and defining paths for future work.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.06.015 | DOI Listing |
Mater Today Bio
February 2025
Department of Neurological Rehabilitation, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325000, China.
Chemotherapy is widely recognized as a highly efficacious modality for cancer treatment, involving the administration of chemotherapeutic agents to target and eradicate tumor cells. Currently, oral administration stands as the prevailing and widely utilized method of delivering chemotherapy drugs. However, the majority of anti-tumor medications exhibit limited solubility and permeability, and poor stability in harsh gastrointestinal environments, thereby impeding their therapeutic efficacy for chemotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMater Today Bio
February 2025
School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health, and Translational Research Institute (TRI), Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, QLD, 4102, Australia.
Antiandrogen therapies are effectively used to treat advanced prostate cancer, but eventually cancer adaptation drives unresolved metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Adipose tissue influences metabolic reprogramming in cancer and was proposed as a contributor to therapy resistance. Using extracellular matrix (ECM)-mimicking hydrogel coculture models of human adipocytes and prostate cancer cells, we show that adipocytes from subcutaneous or bone marrow fat have dissimilar responses under the antiandrogen Enzalutamide.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiotechnol J
January 2025
Department of Marine Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Due to their superior physicochemical features, chitosan thermosensitive hydrogels are multipurpose platforms that are frequently used in the biomedical industry. Many investigations have been conducted recently to modify their pore dimensions, expansion, biodegradability, stimulus-reaction characteristics, and other characteristics in order to better tailor them to the complex craniofacial tissues. They have been the focus of various studies that have attempted to load biological cargos for therapeutic and regenerative uses in the oro-facial tissues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmaceutics
January 2025
CDL Research, University Medical Center Utrecht, 3584CX Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Background/objectives: Glioblastoma is the most common and lethal primary brain tumor. Patients often suffer from tumor- and treatment induced vasogenic edema, with devastating neurological consequences. Intracranial edema is effectively treated with dexamethasone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmaceutics
January 2025
Department of Medicinal Plants, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Arak University, Arak 38156-8-8349, Iran.
In the 21st century, thanks to advances in biotechnology and developing pharmaceutical technology, significant progress is being made in effective drug design. Drug targeting aims to ensure that the drug acts only in the pathological area; it is defined as the ability to accumulate selectively and quantitatively in the target tissue or organ, regardless of the chemical structure of the active drug substance and the method of administration. With drug targeting, conventional, biotechnological and gene-derived drugs target the body's organs, tissues, and cells that can be selectively transported to specific regions.
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