Chapter 9 - Lipid nanoparticles in colorectal cancer

Abstract

The global burden of colorectal cancer (CRC) is enormous, and postoperative death rates for individuals with late-stage CRC are often significant. Adjuvant chemotherapeutics (ACs) have been created to increase the survival rate of these patients. However, traditional formulations of ACs often disperse deadly chemicals to healthy organs, leading to serious adverse effects. Additionally, regular use of traditional ACs might make CRC cells resistant to the drugs, decreasing the efficiency of the treatments. Researchers are looking for ways to distribute ACs using targeted drug delivery systems (DDSs), particularly DDSs based on nanotechnology, to get around these restrictions. Lipid-based nanoplatforms have the potential to enhance the effectiveness and safety of many cytotoxic drugs used in the clinical treatment of leukemia and gastric cancer. This has increased interest in lipid-based nanoplatforms’ preclinical development for the treatment of CRC. These nanoplatforms might be the DDSs with the best chances of succeeding in a clinical study for the treatment of CRC. Overall, there are advantages and disadvantages to using lipid-based nanoplatforms to treat CRC. While there is still much to be done in terms of preclinical research and clinical trials, employing lipid-based nanoplatforms for the delivery of ACs in the treatment of CRC is a promising area of study due to the potential benefits they may have.