Revolutionizing breast cancer treatment: the emerging role of biopolymers-based drug-eluting nanofibers

Abstract

Breast cancer represents one of the most prevalent malignancies worldwide facing significant chemotherapeutic challenges owing to drug resistance, systemic toxicity, and limitations associated with conventional treatment protocols, highlighting the demand for the development of more effective and less invasive treatment approaches. Drug-eluting nanofibers offer the potential to revolutionize current treatment protocols. This review explores the innovative application of biopolymer-based nanofibers in breast cancer management, focusing on their design, fabrication, drug loading mechanisms, controlled drug release profiles, and application in drug delivery. Electrospinning technique allowing polymer selection and precise control over fiber morphology, features and composition is discussed thoroughly demonstrating their influence on the functionality of the developed nanofibers matrices. The capability of these nanofibers to be loaded with a range of chemotherapeutic agents and their controlled release profiles are explored, highlighting how these features can enhance therapeutic efficacy while minimizing side effects. Clinical applications are reviewed, with a focus on recent preclinical studies and potential clinical trials, to assess the efficacy and safety of these new emerging technologies through animal studies. In addition, the currently faced challenges in the clinical translation of nanofibers-based drug delivery systems, such as scalability, reproducibility, and regulatory approval are highlighted. Finally, the review presents the future directions for research in this promising field, suggesting that drug-eluting nanofibers could be an emerging field to develop personalized and precision medicine approaches for breast cancer management.