Chapter 3 - Designing of nanocarriers for liver targeted drug delivery and diagnosis

Abstract

Liver is the key organ in human body responsible for numerous functions including protein synthesis, detoxification, and the production of necessary biochemicals for life sustenance. Viral hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma are some of the chronic liver diseases that need immediate attention for sustainable life of patients with such chronic liver diseases. Among these diseases, Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common one with high mortality and morbidity rates. The requirement of having multiple nanocarriers and active agents for improved therapy, imaging, and controlled release of medications in one platform has made the construction of therapeutic and theranostic nanodrug delivery systems a difficult challenge for contemporary researchers. Multiple drug resistance (MDR), high clearance rate, severe side effects, undesirable drug distribution to the non-specific liver sites, and low concentration of drug that reaches liver cancer cells are just a few of the drawbacks of traditional liver cancer chemotherapy. Thus, new techniques and nanocarriers need to be developed for efficient transport of drugs to malignant hepatocytes in an acceptable concentration and for sufficient duration inside the therapeutic window. Because of the great efficacy of drug loading or drug encapsulation efficiency, high cellular uptake, high drug release, and minimal adverse effects, nanocarriers’ based systems offer benefits over conventional chemotherapy. These nanocarriers have a high drug accumulation rate in tumors while causing minimal toxicity in healthy tissues. This chapter focuses on nanocarrier-based drug delivery systems for targeted liver cancer therapy with special focus on HCC and clinical advancements of therapeutic nanocarriers for liver cancer.