Recent advances in polyphenols nanocarriers against breast cancer therapy focus on in vitro studies: literature review

Mariana Fernandes Ribeiro,Patrícia Gomes,Francine Carla Cadoná

doi:10.37779/nt.v21i3.3559

Mariana Fernandes Ribeiro, Patrícia Gomes + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.37779/nt.v21i3.3559

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Abstract

Cancer is considered a severe public health problem worldwide. Among the most incident cases, breast cancer, which affects many women in the entire world, can be mentioned. Currently, there are well-established protocols for the treatment of this type of cancer. However, cancer treatment presents collateral effects that can compromise the patient’s quality of life. Therefore, studies have suggested that plants and fruits rich in polyphenols have antitumor activity, decrease chemotherapy resistance, and reduce side effects caused by chemotherapy. However, most of these compounds have low bioavailability making their potential pharmacological challenging. Therefore, the search for carriers that can efficiently protect and transport these bioatives to tumor cells is of great interest. In this sense, nanostructured systems can be included as the delivery of bioactive molecules and drugs. Thus, this study aimed to report the current studies using nanocarriers containing phenolic compounds to evaluate their antitumor effect against breast cancer cells. Data collection included the virtual databases Science Direct and Web of Science using the descriptors: nanoparticles and polyphenols and breast cancer, for experimental articles published from 2015 to September 15, 2020. The search resulted in a total of 1346 articles, of 37 met the inclusion criteria. The studies have demonstrated the efficiency of nanostructures containing polyphenols against cancer cells, suggesting excellent perspectives in the use of nanotechnology combined with bioactive compounds in the treatment of breast cancer.

Highlights

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed neoplasm worldwide, being the leading cause of cancer death in women
Among the protocols used in treatments includes hormonal or cytotoxic chemotherapy, immunotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy
According to the chemical structure, polyphenols are classified into flavonoids, phenolic acids, stilbenes, lignans, curcuminoids, and tannins, as illustrated by some examples in the figure below (MOJZER et al, 2016) (Figure 2)

Summary

Introduction

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed neoplasm worldwide, being the leading cause of cancer death in women. According to estimates by the National Cancer Institute (INCA) the estimated number of incident breast cancer cases in Brazil, for 2020, was 66,280 for each year of the 2020-2022 triennium. The incidence of this pathology comes persistently due to several genetic and environmental factors such as eating habits, physical inactivity, radiation exposure, hormonal therapy, alcohol consumption, cases of cancer in the family, among others (KOLAK et al, 2017). Treatment for breast cancer can be classified as systemic, radical, or conservative. Most chemotherapeutic agents used cannot differentiate between normal and tumor cells and induce cell death in all cells that present a rapid proliferation (RAMLJAK et al, 2005)

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