review · Pharmaceutics
This review examines advances in light-responsive and dual-stimuli-responsive smart nanofibers for cancer therapy. Traditional chemotherapy faces significant challenges, including poor drug solubility, low selectivity, and severe side effects. Nanofiber-based drug delivery systems offer a promising alternative due to their unique properties, such as tunable porosity, high drug loading capacity, and biocompatibility, which enable controlled and targeted drug release. The review highlights production methods like electrospinning and forcespinning, noting forcespinning's higher production rates and 3D structures. A key focus is on functionalising nanofiber surfaces and developing nano-in-nanofiber systems to achieve precise tumour targeting and dual-controlled drug release, activated by external stimuli like light, for combination cancer therapy.
This research is important because it addresses the significant limitations of conventional chemotherapy, aiming to improve treatment effectiveness and reduce harmful side effects for cancer patients. Developing smart, targeted drug delivery systems could lead to more precise and less toxic cancer therapies.
This review discusses early-stage research into light-responsive smart nanofibers for targeted drug delivery in cancer therapy. The work could enable the development of more precise and effective chemotherapy treatments, potentially reducing side effects for patients. While the abstract focuses on current trends and potential applications, it describes foundational research rather than a near-market product.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Over the last decade, scientists have shifted their focus to the development of smart carriers for the delivery of chemotherapeutics in order to overcome the problems associated with traditional chemotherapy, such as poor aqueous solubility and bioavailability, low selectivity and targeting specificity, off-target drug side effects, and damage to surrounding healthy tissues. Nanofiber-based drug delivery systems have recently emerged as a promising drug delivery system in cancer therapy owing to their unique structural and functional properties, including tunable interconnected porosity, a high surface-to-volume ratio associated with high entrapment efficiency and drug loading capacity, and high mass transport properties, which allow for controlled and targeted drug delivery. In addition, they are biocompatible, biodegradable, and capable of surface functionalization, allowing for target-specific delivery and drug release. One of the most common fiber production methods is electrospinning, even though the relatively two-dimensional (2D) tightly packed fiber structures and low production rates have limited its performance. Forcespinning is an alternative spinning technology that generates high-throughput, continuous polymeric nanofibers with 3D structures. Unlike electrospinning, forcespinning generates fibers by centrifugal forces rather than electrostatic forces, resulting in significantly higher fiber production. The functionalization of nanocarriers on nanofibers can result in smart nanofibers with anticancer capabilities that can be activated by external stimuli, such as light. This review addresses current trends and potential applications of light-responsive and dual-stimuli-responsive electro- and forcespun smart nanofibers in cancer therapy, with a particular emphasis on functionalizing nanofiber surfaces and developing nano-in-nanofiber emerging delivery systems for dual-controlled drug release and high-precision tumor targeting. In addition, the progress and prospective diagnostic and therapeutic applications of light-responsive and dual-stimuli-responsive smart nanofibers are discussed in the context of combination cancer therapy.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16081017
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
