Targeting Gastric Cancer Cells using Nanoparticles to Improve Diagnosis and Treatment Outcomes while Minimizing Off-Target Toxicity

Abstract

Conventional treatments for metastatic and unresectable gastric cancer (GC) involves chemotherapy and immunotherapy, but these methods have limitations and may cause toxicity and damage to healthy cells. This review focuses on the use of nanoparticles to overcome these challenges. Researchers have reported using nanoparticles for improving imaging techniques, such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Computed Tomography (CT), and Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) by eliminating limitations like adverse reactions, low pharmacokinetics, rapid clearance, and non-specific distribution. Nanoparticles have also been used in chemotherapy to target specific cancerous cells, minimize side effects, improve drug effectiveness, protect therapeutic compounds from the body's harsh environment, and deliver multiple diagnostic and therapeutic agents simultaneously. Nanoparticles have also shown promise as a delivery platform for gene therapy in the treatment of GC, specifically using small interfering RNAs (siRNA) to inhibit the expression of specific genes driving the growth and proliferation of cancer cells using plasmid DNA to express specific proteins. The use of nanoparticles in oxidation therapy to deliver reactive oxygen species agents (ROS) has shown promise as a means of selectively targeting cancer cells while minimizing the toxicity to normal cells. Nanoparticles have also shown similar promise in the delivery of phytochemicals such epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in cancer treatment. The biostability of nanoparticles, and their ability to precisely target cancer cells has provided a method for stable systemic delivery of drugs, improved the effectiveness of GC diagnosis, treatment modalities, and prognosis, and has shown tremendous potential to further improve outcomes for patients with GC.