Emerging blood–brain-barrier-crossing nanotechnology for brain cancer theranostics

May 16, 2019Chemical Society reviews

New nanoparticles that cross the brain’s protective barrier to help diagnose and treat brain cancer

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Abstract

The median survival for brain cancer patients rarely exceeds 16 months.

Brain cancer, particularly glioblastoma, is known for its high invasiveness and poor prognosis.
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) complicates drug delivery to the brain, limiting treatment effectiveness.
Recent advancements in nanotechnology have led to multifunctional nanoplatforms that can cross or bypass the BBB.
These nanoplatforms may enhance accurate diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors.
The review highlights the design of these nanoplatforms for improved tumor targeting and imaging.

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Brain cancer, especially the most common type of glioblastoma, is highly invasive and known as one of the most devastating and deadly neoplasms. Despite surgical and medical advances, the prognosis for most brain cancer patients remains dismal and the median survival rarely exceeds 16 months. Drug delivery to the brain is significantly hindered by the existence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which serves as a protective semi-permeable membrane for the central nervous system. Recent breakthroughs in nanotechnology have yielded multifunctional theranostic nanoplatforms with the ability to cross or bypass the BBB, enabling accurate diagnosis and effective treatment of brain tumours. Herein, we make our efforts to present a comprehensive review on the latest remarkable advances in BBB-crossing nanotechnology, with an emphasis on the judicious design of multifunctional nanoplatforms for effective BBB penetration, efficient tumour accumulation, precise tumour imaging, and significant tumour inhibition of brain cancer. The detailed elucidation of BBB-crossing nanotechnology in this review is anticipated to attract broad interest from researchers in diverse fields to participate in the establishment of powerful BBB-crossing nanoplatforms for highly efficient brain cancer theranostics.

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Emerging blood–brain-barrier-crossing nanotechnology for brain cancer theranostics

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