Nanoparticulate systems for combination therapies of lung cancer: A review

Abstract

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, worldwide. To date, various strategies have been developed and examined for treating lung cancer. The era of nanotechnology has opened a new avenue for designing advanced nanoparticulate systems for single or multiple delivery of chemotherapeutics. Despite the promising synergism between these systems, some challenges still remain. Therefore, various combination therapies based on nanostructures are developed to alleviate the drawbacks of conventional systems. These combinations may or may not have synergistic therapeutic effects. It has been observed that using combination therapies could result in a higher rate of response to treatment when compared with each modality alone. While these nanotechnological routes demonstrate promising therapeutic potentials, still some challenges such as manufacturing scalability, stability under physiological conditions, and ability to clinical translation remain unsolved. These therapies not only moderate the symptoms of the disease but also are useful for cure. It is worth noting that performing various combinations of therapies based on the symptoms, stage, and type of lung cancer could have better therapeutic outcomes than single therapies. Therefore, these kinds of treatments are proposed for clinical lung cancer treatment.