Abstract
Head and neck cancers rank sixth among the most common cancers today, and the survival rate has remained virtually unchanged over the past 25 years, due to late diagnosis and ineffective treatments. They have two main risk factors, tobacco and alcohol, and human papillomavirus infection is a secondary risk factor. These cancers affect areas of the body that are fundamental for the five senses. Therefore, it is necessary to treat them effectively and non-invasively as early as possible, in order to do not compromise vital functions, which is not always possible with conventional treatments (chemotherapy or radiotherapy). In this sense, nanomedicine plays a key role in the treatment and diagnosis of head and neck cancers. Nanomedicine involves using nanocarriers to deliver drugs to sites of action and reducing the necessary doses and possible side effects. The main purpose of this review is to give an overview of the applications of nanocarrier systems to the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer. Herein, several types of delivery strategies, radiation enhancement, inside-out hyperthermia, and theragnostic approaches are addressed.
Highlights
The words cancer, tumor, and neoplasia are generic terms that define a broad range of diseases characterized by unchecked division or uncontrolled proliferation of cells in a tissue or organ
Despite the latest advances in medicine, cancer survival rates have remained unaltered for the past 25 years, mostly due to the lack of efficiency in drug targeting, which leads to ineffective therapy
Due to the problems associated with Head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment, there is a tremendous need for innovative approaches in cancer management, due to difficulties in drug targeting
Summary
The words cancer, tumor, and neoplasia are generic terms that define a broad range of diseases characterized by unchecked division or uncontrolled proliferation of cells in a tissue or organ. Conventional cancer treatment protocols include local surgery combined with adjuvant systemic therapies—namely, the administration of cytotoxic drugs and the application of radiation These are invasive methods and are associated with several serious side effects that compromise the patients’ quality of life, such as severe toxicity, mucositis, dysphagia, xerostomia, radiation dermatitis, hematologic toxicity, neurotoxicity, and ototoxicity [6,8]. Nanotechnology-based systems for HNC management have the potential to emerge as alternatives to conventional treatments, as these systems can offer solutions to the problems encountered in conventional treatments: they minimize non-specific delivery failures and cell death, and reduce multidrug resistance, and maximize the efficacy of therapeutic agents Since they are nanometer-sized systems, they penetrate and permeate through the cell membrane, blood capillaries, and biological barriers [11–14]. The main aim of this work is to explore novel and current nanotechnology-based carriers for HNC management, such as drug delivery systems, radiation enhancement, inside-out hyperthermia, and theragnostics
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