Nanotechnology-Based Therapeutics in ROS-Induced Cancer

Abstract

Cancer has long been linked to reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cellular oxidant stress. However, the mechanism of this link is complicated and often contradictory, as it implies that ROS and oxidant stress might cause cancer, and altered cells appear to produce more ROS than healthy cells. Often this chemotherapeutics raise intracellular levels of ROS, and several of them can disrupt cancer cells’ redox equilibrium. The anticancer action of these chemotherapeutics is largely assumed to be attributable to the production of oxidative stress and ROS-mediated cell damage in cancer. Various new treatment techniques aimed at reducing intracellular ROS levels, on the other hand, have had mixed outcomes. Nanotechnology development in cancer therapeutics uses results in the development of nanomaterials that yield cytotoxic ROS, particularly in cancer cells. Several nanomaterials work by boosting ROS generation in tumor cells, disrupting their redox balance, and causing lipid peroxidation as well as oxidative DNA and protein damage. In this chapter, we outline ROS and cancer and summarize recent progress in ROS potential-targeted nanomaterials, their biomedical applications in cancer therapy as drug delivery systems (DDSs) targeting ROS potential as internal stimuli or in combination with different external stimuli, i.e., magnetic field, light, and ultrasound.KeywordsCancerDDSNanoparticlesRedox balanceROS