Abstract
Simple SummaryThe pharmacological treatment of tumors of the central nervous system poses major challenges due to the presence of physical obstacles, i.e., the blood-brain barrier, impeding the delivery of anticancer drugs to the tumor site. Hence, the development of innovative therapeutic strategies to overcome these obstacles is of pivotal importance to reach significant clinical advances in brain tumor treatment. In this review, we report the latest studies on carbon dots as an innovative tool for brain tumor drug delivery.Brain tumors are particularly aggressive and represent a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in adults and children, affecting the global population and being responsible for 2.6% of all cancer deaths (as well as 30% of those in children and 20% in young adults). The blood-brain barrier (BBB) excludes almost 100% of the drugs targeting brain neoplasms, representing one of the most significant challenges to current brain cancer therapy. In the last decades, carbon dots have increasingly played the role of drug delivery systems with theranostic applications against cancer, thanks to their bright photoluminescence, solubility in bodily fluids, chemical stability, and biocompatibility. After a summary outlining brain tumors and the current drug delivery strategies devised in their therapeutic management, this review explores the most recent literature about the advances and open challenges in the employment of carbon dots as both diagnostic and therapeutic agents in the treatment of brain cancers, together with the strategies devised to allow them to cross the BBB effectively.
Highlights
Cancer represents one of the leading causes of death worldwide
After a summary outlining brain tumors and the current drug delivery strategies devised in their therapeutic management, this review explores the most recent literature about the advances and open challenges in the employment of carbon dots as both diagnostic and therapeutic agents in the treatment of brain cancers, together with the strategies devised to allow them to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) effectively
In analogy to the BBB, the blood-brain tumor barrier (BBTB) is located between brain tumor tissues and the capillaries formed by highly specialized endothelial cells, preventing the paracellular delivery of most hydrophilic molecules to the tumor site [24]
Summary
Cancer represents one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Brain tumors, frequently defined as brain neoplasms, are a heterogeneous group of neoformations affecting the central nervous system (CNS). Even if less common than other cancer types, CNS tumors are aggressive and represent a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in adults and children [1] They affect the global population and are responsible for 2.6% of all cancer deaths, 30% of children’s, and 20% of young adults’ [2,3]. Malignant cancer management requires understanding those characteristics of both the tumor and its microenvironment that significantly influence therapeutic response and clinical outcome In this context, nanomaterial-based anticancer therapies have become attractive as a means of controlling the tumor microenvironment (TME) and they have the potential to exceed conventional treatments [9,10,11]. We present a literature survey about the application of C-dots in brain cancer nanomedicine and highlight the progress in this field
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