Abstract
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a non-sulfated polysaccharide polymer with the properties of biodegradability, biocompatibility, and non-toxicity. Additionally, HA specifically binds to certain receptors that are over-expressed in cancer cells. To maximize the effect of drug delivery and cancer treatment, diverse types of nanomaterials have been developed. HA-based nanomaterials, including micelles, polymersomes, hydrogels, and nanoparticles, play a critical role in efficient drug delivery and cancer treatment. Hyperthermic cancer treatment using HA-based nanomaterials has attracted attention as an efficient cancer treatment approach. In this paper, the biomedical applications of HA-based nanomaterials in hyperthermic cancer treatment and combined therapies are summarized. HA-based nanomaterials may become a representative platform in hyperthermic cancer treatment.
Highlights
Over the years, a large amount of effort has been devoted towards treating cancers
Among a diverse range of NIR dyes, indocyanine green (ICG) is one of the representative NIR dyes which have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
This review shows the results of single and combined hyperthermic cancer treatments using hyaluronic acid (HA)-based nanomaterials, encapsulated with or conjugated to therapeutic agents for cancer treatments
Summary
A large amount of effort has been devoted towards treating cancers. Advances in nanotechnology, in the field of drug nanocarriers, have enabled biocompatible and effective drug delivery to cancer sites with reduced side-effects [1]. To distribute a drug into a tumor site while avoiding other organs, it is necessary to design engineered nanoparticles by modifying the surface with targeting moieties [4,5]. HA can selectively target cancerous cells over-expressing CD44 and many studies have addressed HA-modified nanomaterials as cancer targeting moieties to enhance cancer therapy without side-effects [12,13,14,15,16] This CD44 targeting is a unique property of HA-based nanomaterials. Hyperthermia, one tool for cancer treatment, aims to increase the temperature at the tumor site and, cause cancer cell death [18]. For the therapeutic efficacy of hyperthermia in cancer treatment, the targeted tumor regions must reach temperatures in the range of 42–46 ◦C [19]. Photothermal therapy (PTT) and magnetic hyperthermia therapy (MHT) are representative hyperthermia-mediated cancer treatments
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