Chapter 15 - Nanodelivery of Anticancer Agents in Melanoma: Encouraging, But a Long Way to Go

Abstract

Melanoma is the most aggressive type of skin cancer with a very low survival rate. The surgical removal of early-stage melanoma can achieve a survival rate of 99%; however, metastasized melanoma is incurable with 5-year survival rates reported to be less than 20%. The response of melanoma patients to standard chemotherapy is very low—approximately 5–10% of patients respond. Nanotechnology could be a promising approach to increase treatment efficacy and reduce the side effects in melanoma treatment. Nanodelivery of anticancer agents may aid in treatment as it can increase circulation half-life, facilitate combination therapy, and enable the drug to accumulate at the tumor site. In this chapter, we will describe applications of nanotechnology in melanoma management, particularly in targeted therapy and immunotherapy. Nanodelivery has been used to deliver chemotherapeutic agents, small molecule inhibitors or siRNAs for targeted therapy, and anti-PD-L1/PD-1 for immune system activation. Interestingly, nanoparticles (NPs) have been designed to contain the mitochondria affiliating molecule rhodamine to target mitochondria specifically. Moreover, NPs have been used to carry multiple therapeutic agents for combination therapy. It is expected that the application of nanodelivery will eventually be used to benefit melanoma patients.